Another Root Canal??

Last winter while I was in Florida I developed excruciating pain in one of my molars. Exrays were taken at a local dentist's office and the dreaded words "root canal" were mentioned. Since this was February and I wasn't due to go home until April I was very concerned. The dentist's office in Florida wasn't up to my standards and I just couldn't see myself allowing something that was as invasive as a root canal to be done there. So I took antibiotics to calm the infection so I could hold off until I saw my own dentist in April.

When I got home I had the root canal done and all seemed to go very well. My dentist wanted me to wait until September to have the crown put on and that was fine with me because the actual root canal had kept me in the dentist's chair for hours.

So comes the day in September (today) for me to have my teeth cleaned and then have the impression taken for the crown. I mentioned to the dentist that I'd been occasionally having some discomfort in the tooth, not a toothache but just a sort of dull ache. His eyebrows went up and he immediately took more exrays to look for what he described as a crack (I'm not sure where the crack would be but I'm assuming he meant in my jaw) but couldn't see one. He said it's possible the ache is coming from the tooth beside the dead one and I might need a root canal in that one. A few curse words slipped out before I could stop them but I'm sure that, being a dentist, he's heard worse before.

He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic to calm down any infection that might be lurking and then gave me another appointment to see him in two weeks. If the discomfort is coming from the tooth I had the root canal in then it means there is definitely a crack and the tooth will have to be removed. If it's coming from the tooth next door then it probably means another root canal.

This is a no-win situation.

The only good thing in this situation is that I am lucky enough to have a very capable and caring dentist and I know he'll do what is best for me.