Skip to main content

Endodontic Retreatment

With the appropriate care, your teeth that have had endodontic treatment will last as long as other natural teeth. Yet, a tooth that has received treatment may fail to heal or pain may continue to exist. Sometimes, the pain may occur months or years after treatment. If so, Endodontic Retreatment may be needed.

Improper healing may be caused by:

  • Curved or narrow canals that were not treated during the initial treatment.
  • Complicated canals that went undetected during the initial treatment.
  • The crown or restoration was not placed within the appropriate amount of time following the procedure.
  • The crown or restoration that did not prevent saliva from contaminating the inside of the tooth.
An example of a tooth with inflamed tissue
Inflamed Tissue
A visual of removing fillings from a tooth
Filling Removed
A representation of a tooth with its canals cleaned
Canals Cleaned
An illustration of new root filling material placed into a tooth's canals
Root Material Placed
An example of a tooth's filling restored by new root canal filling
Filling Restored
A representation of a fully healed tooth by new root canal filling placed
Healed Tooth

In some cases, new problems can influence a tooth that was successfully treated:

  • New decay can expose a root canal filling material, causing infection.
  • A cracked or loose filling or crown can expose the tooth to new infection.

We perform a CBCT (3-D Scan) of your tooth to determine what may be causing the need for retreatment. Once retreatment has been selected as a solution to your situation, we will schedule you for a retreatment appointment.  That appointment will be similar to a standard root canal appointment, however, Dr. Ward or Dr. Ritter will reopen your tooth to gain access to the root canal filling material. This restorative material will be removed to enable access to the original root canal. Dr. Ward or Dr. Ritter will then clean your canals and carefully examine the inside of the tooth. Once cleaned, Dr. Ward or Dr. Ritter will fill and seal the canals and place a temporary filling in the tooth.

At this point, you will need to return to your dentist  for your final restoration.

 
 
Click to open and close visual accessibility options. The options include increasing font-size and color contrast.