Dentist replaced crown over old root canal tooth - should I just extract it now?

Question

Hi, I was experiencing pressure like symptoms on my 12 year old crown (tooth 19) that is covering a root canal tooth (also done 12 years ago). The dentist removed the decay and placed a new crown. The dentist said the decay was significant but thinks everything will be fine and the crown will only last a few years. Didn't suggest a retreatment for my root canal due to nothing showing on the X-ray about an infection. I'm worried that an infection will occur? Should I just extract it now?

Patricia Moezinia, DDS · Answer

Although a clinical and radiographic study is necessary to determine if it is better to remove the crown, it is always better to try to preserve the natural teeth, being the extraction of the tooth the last option. The conduct to follow in this case, will depend on the diagnosis of the element, if you had decay in the tooth and discomfort, it is likely that the root canal treatment has been affected, however if the tooth has little remaining tooth structure, many times redoing the root canal treatment could worsen the situation. I would now advise watchful waiting and monitor the symptoms to decide whether or not to remove the crown

Dentist replaced crown over old root canal tooth - should I just extract it now?

Answers (1)