I have a tooth that has a dental crown already but has been hurting again. My dentist gave my antibiotics, but they didn’t help. After doing an x-ray he said there isn’t a canal and therefore there is no way for him to do a root canal treatment and he’ll have to pull the tooth. I’m not too keen on this idea. Do I have any options?
Mazie
Dear Mazie,
Your dentist seems a bit confused about dental infections. First, the antibiotic can only do so much. If it is not doing anything, that is a sign that the problem is NOT a tooth infection, but something else. He needs to start investigating other causes of the pain. He’s trying to solve a problem when he does not know what the problem is. That’s like shooting an arrow in the dark when you don’t even have a target there.
If the antibiotic was helping, that does indicate there is an infection there. Even if it was helping and then got worse. Just because your dentist cannot see a canal does not mean there is not one there. Some of those canals can be very difficult to see.
My suggestion is you get a second opinion before you go any further with this. I’d actually have an endodontist look at it for you. One tip here, when getting a second opinion, don’t tell them who looked at your tooth or what their diagnosis was. Tell them you just want their unbiased opinion. This will keep them from just parroting a colleague.
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