I Needed a Root Canal but Ignored the Fact. I Am on my 2nd Week of Invisalign and my Tooth Hurts. Should I Wait a Whole Year?

You NEED to address the root canal, pain will only increase. Get the root canal ASAP. This treatment trumps invisalign.

You should absolutely take care of the infection with a root canal if that is what was recommended. The gum or bone or root of the tooth might have permanent damage if left for a long time such as you suggested. Be sure the person doing the filling over the root canal knows you are wearing the trays and show it to the dentist at the beginning of your appointment. Besides, why have a sore tooth for a year? Good luck - hope this helps.

Dental work including root canals need to be addressed before orthodontics including Invisalign, but since you have already started with Invisalign, you should address the root canal situation right away.  Your Invisalign doctor should be aware of this and work with you to resolve the issue.  If you were my patient, I would keep you in your first aligner until the root canal is completed.  You may have some positive news in that when the RCT is completed the tooth anatomy may not be altered.  Major work such as crowns need to be avoided during Invisalign treatment as the aligners may not fit after a crown is made.  Once your RCT is completed, you should be able to continue with the remaining aligners and finish the treatment as originally designed.

It is best by far to have all necessary dental restorations done before starting Invisalign, otherwise the Aligners might not fit after new restorations.  But should you delay the root canal?  No!  Infection from the tooth can move to your heart or brain.  Rough-Rider/President Teddy Roosevelt died from infection spread from an abscessed tooth.  After the root canal, if it is in fact needed, the tooth can be restored with composite using one of the Aligners as a mold for the new restoration so that the Invisalign treatment can be continued.

Any decay that is severe enough to endanger the pulp of a tooth and possibly result in the need for root canal treatment is something that should be dealt with ASAP.  The second dentist should never have started your Invisalign treatment without having you resolve this issue!  You need to get this checked out NOW

If your tooth is decayed, possibly into the nerve, you should DEFINITELY get it taken care of NOW, before the tooth has to be extracted. Invisalign can probably be continued with little or no modification after the root canal or filling is done. This should ALL be revued and evaluated by the Invisalign doctor.