Root canal retreatment
For a tooth that already had a root canal and has started to hurt, swell or show infection again.
Retreatment reopens a tooth that has had a root canal, takes the old filling out of its canals, and cleans and seals them again. It is usually the first thing to try when a treated tooth becomes infected again, months or years later, before surgery or an extraction.
When a treated tooth flares up again.
- A tooth that had a root canal is sore to bite on again.
- A small bump comes and goes on the gum beside it, sometimes with a salty taste.
- The gum or your face has swollen near an old root canal.
- A follow-up X-ray shows the dark area at the root tip has grown, or never shrank.
- The crown or filling on a root-treated tooth broke or fell out and was left open for a while.
A root canal retreatment, step by step.
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01
Why it failed
Dr. Malik tests the tooth and takes X-rays of the old root filling and the bone at the tip. He tells you whether retreatment is likely to hold, or whether a crack in the root means the tooth cannot be kept.
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02
Opening the tooth
With the area frozen, Dr. Malik works through the crown or takes it off, and removes any post sitting in the canal. If the crown has to come off, a new one is planned from the start.
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03
Taking out the old filling
The rubbery root filling is softened and drawn out of each canal. Then he looks for what the first treatment missed: an extra canal, a blockage, or a canal cleaned short of the tip.
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04
Cleaning and sealing again
The canals are cleaned, disinfected and filled again. A stubborn infection may need a medicated dressing inside for a couple of weeks, under a temporary filling, before the final seal.
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05
Closing the top properly
Saliva leaking in from the top is one of the most common reasons a root canal fails, so the tooth gets a sound cover as soon as it is sealed. That is usually a new crown, sometimes with a post and core under it.
A root canal retreatment and your dental plan.
Retreatment takes longer in the chair than a first root canal, and is usually one or two visits. It is priced separately from the new crown or post that often follows. Plans that pay towards root canals usually pay part of a retreatment as well.
Ask us what it will costRoot canal retreatment, answered.
Why would a root canal fail?
Usually because bacteria got back in: past a leaking filling, through new decay under a crown, or down a canal the first treatment did not reach. Sometimes the root has cracked, and a cracked root cannot be retreated.
Is it better to retreat the tooth or have it out?
If the root is sound and enough tooth is left to rebuild, keeping it is usually the simpler route. Dr. Malik tells you which way he would go, and why, before anything starts.
What if retreatment does not work?
The next step is usually periapical surgery, which treats the root tip from outside, through the gum. If that is not possible either, the tooth comes out and we plan what replaces it.
Does retreatment hurt more than the first root canal?
It feels much the same: the area is frozen, and you feel pressure and vibration rather than pain. It takes longer, so we build in breaks, and the tooth can be tender to bite on for a few days.
