Is Root Canal Needed

[DLab703]

My lower molar has had a vertical crack in it for years. A few months ago, I started having sharp pain when I'd bite down that went away after a couple of minutes. My dentist said the tooth had a cavity, so that was filled 11 days ago and he said to wait 2-3 weeks to see if that helped. He said there was another filling in the tooth that was close to the root bed and weak tooth structure. I had a constant dull ache after the filling. 5 days ago I got a terrible, constant toothache and earache with sporadic electrical shocks near tooth. I went to the doctor the next day to be sure it wasn't an ear infection, even though I was sure it was the tooth causing the pain in both areas. I had fluid behind that ear but no redness. I've been on penicillin for 4 days now. The pain finally subsided a little last night when the tooth went numb, and only hurt when I bit down, which made chewing even on the opposite side of my mouth painful. It was numb all night, and this morning, and feeling has just came back The tooth pain is bearable and a gland under my chin is sore now. To the point, this is a new dentist who said that he likes to be conservative. I'm contemplating calling this morning and asking for a root canal because I do not want to see what the next phase of pain is going to be, but I'm also worried that I'm jumping the gun by not waiting the full 2-3 weeks and only giving the antibiotic 4 days (although the dentist never mentioned any infection). The tooth was not sensitive to tapping, but very sensitive to the air. Thank you.

[mammo]

With all the pain you're having you should call your dentist. I don't think he expected you to have pain just some tenderness when chewing on that side.  A root canal will remove the nerve so no more pain!  I like your dentist being conservative and I'm sure he doesn't want you suffering like this.  It's good that you're on the antibiotics because if there's infection your dentist would have done the same before working on it.  Call him and tell him the pain is too much and get the root canal.  Take care.

[Life360_Dave]

Hi and welcome. if you have the money root canals are the way to go for sure. You dont need the root anyway.