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 endodontic treatment may be associated with persistent disease or re-emergence of disease. In these instances endodontic retreatment may be necessary
Persistent disease may be caused by:
- Curved or narrow canals that were not completely treated.
- Calcified canals that went undetected during the initial treatment.
- Undetected root crack.
- The crown or restoration was not placed within the appropriate amount of time following endodontic treatment.
- 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, cracked or loose filling or crown can expose root canal filling material to saliva, causing 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 doctor will now clean your canals and carefully examine the inside of the problematic tooth to verify the structural integrity of the remaining tooth structure. Once cleaned, the doctor will fill and seal the canals with a new root filling material.
At this point, you will need to return to your dentist as soon as possible in order to have a new crown or restoration placed on the tooth to restore full functionality.