Dentist/hygienist question....dark spots at the roots of old root canals on panorama xray.

[Tap]

I have sjogrens syndrome (very dry mouth) and have had extensive dental work done due to lack of saliva.  My first root canal was more than 20 years ago, and I think my last was 10 years.  I have 5 crowns.

 

18 months ago, I had a couple crowns that were bothering me and the dentist replaced them.Nothing showed up on the xray at the time.  I have a funky bite and he said he thought the teeth were hitting together wrong and causing the pain.  They never stopped hurting. When I told him they were still bothering me 3 months later, he said they may take 6 months to settle down. I waited..more time passed, pain persisted, and I decided to change dentists.

 

Today, I finally saw a new dentist.  They did a panoramic scan and said that at the roots of two of my root canals, there are dark areas that could be infections. One of the these teeth are the ones that have hurt for over 2 years. 

 

I have a referral to an endodontist, and they said to go ASAP.  I am wondering if this seems on par with what you have seen.  I am pretty broke right now and hate to rush off to create another bill, if I can possibly wait a month or so, it would be better timing. 

 

If it is an infection how do they treat it? Antibiotics or will it have to be pulled and then something else put in? UGHHHH, This is going to be expensive.   :huh:

Edited July 13, 2016 by Tap

[abacus2]

Teeth with root canals can become reinfected. Depending on the severity, this would lead to a re-done root canal (cost same or more than initial root canals) or a pulled tooth and either a bridge or an implant.

 

ETA: You may be able to put off treatment for a little while with antibiotics.

Edited July 13, 2016 by abacus2

[Tap]

Teeth with root canals can become reinfected. Depending on the severity, this would lead to a re-done root canal (cost same or more than initial root canals) or a pulled tooth and either a bridge or an implant.

 

ETA: You may be able to put off treatment for a little while with antibiotics.

That is good to know.  I was worried I would go in and they might push for removal and  implants and I really don't have the money for that right now.  That would be nice if the root canals can be redone but i assume I have to have the caps redone too,  Ugh. 

[JonesinIndiana]

You may not have to have a new crown. If the endodontist (specialist that does root canals) can make an opening in the crown, he should be able to go thru it, redo the root canal, and do a filling after the retreat is done and the tooth is calmed down. They will put a temporary filling in, and after the tooth calms down a permanent filling can be done by your dentist.

 

My husband just had his root canal retreated today after the original was done thru his crown 16 years ago. I was worried the root is fractured but the endodontist didn't see any sign of it. We will see if there are any problems or the pain starts again. When DH's tooth flared suddenly 2 weeks ago, I knew what it was as soon as he woke me up at 2:30 am. (I'm a hygienist) 😴 He was put on antibiotics right away and other than a few Aleve the next day, he's been pain free.

 

Sometimes the bite is very difficult to get right. It may take numerous bite adjustments to get it comfortable. I've seen things take up to a year to settle down. I say this just in case you don't need a root canal. Also, hopefully the endodontist will take a periapical X-ray which will give more detail and an accurate view of the teeth involved. A panoramic X-ray isn't a great X-ray to determine if a root canal is needed.

 

Good luck!

[StephanieZ]

Yup . . . I have shitty teeth, too. I feel your pain.

 

I had a root canal/crown go bad last fall -- sounds pretty much like what you are experiencing. It happens, and it's "expected" around a decade or so . . . I had a totally new replacement/fix root canal and totally new crown done in November. ($$ + $$)

 

Lucky me, by March, said new crown was popping off every other week . . . and apparently something is cracked or whatever and the crown is no longer a viable option. Yippee! Now I get to have an IMPLANT done later this month along with ANOTHER new crown . . . ($$$ + $$)

 

Fun times, let me tell ya! Our nicely funded HSA will be close to 0 by the time I'm done!

 

Anyway, I tell this story to tell you that, according to my (very good) dentist, implants are way the way to go these days instead of root canal + crown . . . The implant doesn't cost much more these days, and will have a longer life expectancy. I sure wish I'd done that last fall instead of investing in a re-do of the root canal/crown . . .  So, IMHO, be sure to consider an implant before moving forward. 

[Zinnia]

I had these x-rays done abut 2 years ago.  
 

For me, it ended up being a long story.  About 5 years ago, my crown popped off eating candy.  It took about 3 days to get to the dentist to put it back, and it was difficult to put back on.  I think something happened then.  I didn't have dental xrays for a long time because I was always pregnant.  So, about 2 years ago, I had routine xrays that showed the dark spots.  The root canal and crown were 25 years old, fwiw.

 

I went to the entodontist, who decided that it was broken, and he could not save it.  So off to the periodontist to start the process to get an implant.  I had some gum disease that we tried to clear first, so that the site for the implant would have the best chance of healing.  So we did that.  I rescheduled a few times.  And finally, yesterday, I just had the tooth pulled.  WHen he pulled it out (in pieces; it was cracked under the crown), there was a lot of infection under the tooth.  They cleared that out, packed it with bone graft dust, and now we wait 4-6 months for that to heal so that they can place the implant.  Then the implant heals, and it's covered by a crown.

 

So for me, that dark stuff on xrays has turned into quite the ordeal.  Yikes.  I hope yours is much simpler!

Edited July 14, 2016 by Zinnia