A painful molar tooth that should be extracted.

1) There is a cavity under this molar crown. 2) There is a cavity under this premolar crown. The root canal filling material (arrows 3, 4 and 10) does not extend to the end of the tooth root (arrows 5, 6 and 11). 7) & 8) Xray evidence of a root canal infection in the jaw that is causing this new patient pain even though root canal therapy was already (incompletely) performed. 9) A poor-fitting prefabricated post. The molar tooth will need to be extracted and replaced with a dental implant and new crown. The premolar tooth will need root canal retreatment, a new post, possible crown lengthening gum surgery and a new crown. Much of this problem could have been avoided with more careful initial dentistry.

Categorised in: Dr. Dorfman Says

This post was written by Dr. Jeffrey Dorfman