Endodontic REVISION (Retreatment)

With the appropriate care, your teeth that have had endodontic treatment will last as long as other natural teeth. Yet a tooth that has received treatment may fail to heal or pain may continue to exist. Sometimes, the pain may occur months or years after treatment. If so, an Endodontic Revision (Retreatment) may be needed. 

Improper healing may be caused by:

• Curved or narrow canals that were not addressed during the initial treatment.
• Complicated canals that went undetected.
• The crown or restoration was not placed within the appropriate amount of time following the procedure.
• The crown or restoration did not prevent saliva from contaminating the inside of the tooth.

In some cases, new problems can influence a tooth that was successfully treated:

• New decay can expose a root canal filling material, causing infection.
• A cracked or loose filling or crown can expose the tooth to new infection.

Once retreatment has been selected as a solution to your problem, the doctors will reopen your tooth to gain access to the root canal filling material. This restorative material will be removed to enable access to the root canal. The doctors will clean your canals and carefully examine the inside of the problematic tooth. Once cleaned, they will fill the canals, seal them, and place a filling in the tooth.

At this point, your tooth will need a restoration. Often times your dentist has requested that we assist in this care, by either:

• Placing a filling called a “crown repair” in a serviceable crown
• Placing the base restoration for a new crown

Once we fix the root canal. It is important that you return to your dentist AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if your tooth requires a new crown or filling on the tooth to restore full functionality. This will prevent reinfection of the root canal or fracture of the tooth. If you do not return to your dentist you may lose the tooth or once again need to redo the root canal.