Pain in molar that has an old root canal and old crown, what could the problem be?

Question

I have a molar that has both a root canal and a crown, done at least 15 years ago. All of a sudden yesterday I started having pain when biting on that tooth. If I don't chew on that side, there is no aching or throbbing. Sleeping is difficult because I find that I do bite during my sleep and it wakes up every time now. I will see my dentist next week if he has an opening. What could this be?

Roya Shoffet-Yaghoubian, DDS · Answer

Be aware root canals can fail ,you definitely need to see your dentist to take x-ray and evaluate the tooth, they may place you on antibiotics and the pain goes away for  some time but worst case is because most of pain on old root canals means you may have a cracked tooth in that case the tooth not savable and end up in extraction

Kourosh Maddahi, DDS · Answer

Hi:
Sorry to hear about the pain.  There is a possiblity of infection or cracked tooth.  It's best to have your dentist take an xray and examine the tooth for a definitive diagnosis.
Best,
Dr. Maddahi

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