Answer:
Dear
Alice ,
The tooth
has become re-infected, and the other possibility is that there is
a root fracture.
The filling/crown
in the tooth could be affecting the way your teeth come together.
We would
ask your dentist to refer you to a good root canal specialist an endodontist
-a dentist who specializes in matters concerning the inside of the
tooth- for further evaluation.
You need
to find a very good endodontist.
It is
possible to have root canal therapy on the same tooth more than once.
This
is known as a retreatment. A retreatment is needed if the first root
canal treatment did not work. This is unusual; more than 90% of root
canals are successful.
Many
people don't realize that there may be 3 - 4 canals in a tooth and
sometimes the dentist may miss the extra canals.
The x
rays can show that the total root had not been removed.
The prognosis
for successful treatment is around 90%. That means that about 10%
of the patients will experience either pain or other problems after
the treatment. This is due to the very resistant bacteria living in
the environment around the apex of the tooth - these are sometimes
resistant to treatment.
Sometimes
when a root canal is done the infection doesn't clear up as it should
or you may have had auxiliary canals that didn't get cleaned out when
the root canal was done and festered over the years.
