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Avatar universal

Root canal

I was prepped for a crown last month but the tooth (an upper molar) was extremely sensitive to bite and heat and cold.  It was determined last week that the tooth needed a root canal done on it.  When the dentist did the root canal, the first 3 canals went extremely well and quickly, better than I expected (this was my first root canal) but the 4th canal was calcified.  So what should have taken a little over an hour ended up taking almost 3 hours but he did get it cleaned and totally finished the root canal and temporary cemented my crown back on waiting for it to calm down before the permanent cement is done.

My question is what exactly does it mean for a canal to be "calcified" and what causes that and will it affect the success of the root canal?

Also, when they adjust the bite on the crowned tooth, does it require the crown coming back off or can they adjust bite with it on?

Thanks for your time.
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Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
For some reason the canal is closed off(calcified) it can be the way the tooth protects itself from an irritant. The crown can be adjusted in the mouth so long as it is repolished.
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Avatar universal
the bit can be adjusted with the crown on... it's easy to do-- however, i would be inclined to have it redone (i'm assuming the root canal was done through the brand new crown) since it is significantly weakened. the access hole plus more bite adjusting weakens it. I always cement crowns on temporarily at first with temporary cement so they can be removed if a root canal is needed. i permanaently cement them after the root canal or after a month or so if the tooth is doing well. In my opinion (again, just my opinion) you should have it redone and not have to pay for it.
a calcified canal means that the canal at some point in the past began closing up on its own-- usually due to the nerve dying (for whatever reason-- a big filling, trauma, a crack etc). these canals are hader to "clean out becasue they are very very narrow and require much more instrumentation----- if it was done well the fact that it was calcified has no bearing on the success of the procedure). In the upper first molar, there is a 4th canal 50% of the time, and it is always the most narrow and most difficult to instrument. hope this helps.
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Avatar universal
just re-read your post. it seems the crown was removed for your root canal procedure. in that case, if a bite adjustment is needed it can be done either way-- in the mouth or out. moe often than not, large adjustments are done out of the mouth (perhaps even by the lab) and small adjustments in the mouth. howeve, if you've been weaing it for a month, it should need very little adjusting. if alot of adjusting is needed, it weakens the crown and thins out the porcelain (which makes it very prone to fracture)--- i would question why the lab did not get it right (or at least very close) and ask to have it remade if this is the case.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your comments Mike.  The root canal was *not* performed through the crown as my dentist never permanently cemented it on because I was having problems with it.  He only did a temp cement on it thankfully.
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