Does This Need a Second Root Canal?

I had a root canal done on an upper canine. The temporary filling came off and the tooth developed an abscess. It’s not painful unless I press on the area, but my dentist still wants to do a second root canal treatment. Is that absolutely necessary? Is it possible to just take an antibiotic for this instead of a second root canal treatment?

Avery

Dear Avery,

Unfortunately, antibiotics will not help in your situation. The most they can do is keep the infection at bay and dissolve the abscess. The infection itself will not be touched. This is because antibiotics work in your bloodstream. You’re infected tooth no longer has any blood flow, so once you stop taking the antibiotics, the infection will resume spreading outside your tooth.

The only way to truly treat an infected tooth is by removing the infected pulp. A root canal should do this, but sometimes there are some hidden canals that are hard to get to or can be easily missed. This wouldn’t happen with your tooth because a canine isn’t that tricky. In your case it had more to do with that temporary filling, which I’ll explain in a moment. You need the root canal retreatment. I would go to a root canal specialist, though, to give you the best chance of a successful outcome.

The Importance of Completing a Root Canal Treatment

You’d mentioned that it was a temporary filling which came off. When you get a root canal treatment, the temporary filling is meant to be replaced. Your dentist can either replace it with a permanent filling or a dental crown. I’m not sure why your dentist left the temporary filling there. Your saliva will eat away at the temporary filling which was meant to be easy to remove. Because the filling came out, it broke down the seal of the tooth, which caused the infection to flare back up.

It’s very important you get this root canal retreatment done. If you leave an infected tooth untreated it will continue to spread and could become life threating. Every year people die from tooth infections that were easily treatable. Don’t be one of them.

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