Is this Normal?

Tooth #14 had a small cavity on it in August 2009.  They filled it, no problem, and I went on with my day.  At a check up a few months later, xrays revealed that beyond the filling there was more decay.  They cleaned it out, and told me I needed a crown.

After the crown was placed, I had gone in for a cleaning.  At the cleaning that tooth had a 7mm in the pocket, and they treated it by planing and scraping the area, and putting antibiotics in the gum.  When I went back for a recheck, the tooth wasn't better and there was a fistula on the gum.  They prescribed me antibiotics, and a few days later went in for a root canal.  This was in October.

On Tuesday I went in for a cleaning, and the fistula is still there, and the pocket is now an 8mm.  So, because it's not getting better, my dentist referred me to an endodontist.  I went to the endodontist today, he explained what it could be, and he numbed me up.  After numbing me up, he said that the pocket was closer to a 12 mm.  He drilled into the crown, and could tell right away that there was a clear fracture in the tooth, that was keeping this infection going.

My question is, how come my dentist NEVER saw this fracture?  I had quite expensive dental work, even with insurance it was well over 3,000 out of pocket expenses.  Now I need to extract this tooth, and possibly have a dental implant put in that will cost me 5,000.  Who is responsible for this?  Is this normal or is this malpractice?

[Gellia]

Sorry you are going through all this

It's my understanding that fractures are very difficult to see even with an xray.  It would be even harder through a crown unless it was all porcelain, and even then it's nearly impossible.  You can tell mostly by the symptoms.  The only sure way is extraction.

I know this probably won't help, but it does happen.  There are many reasons a tooth can fracture.

My best to you,
Gellia