Why Does Root Canal Treatment Fail?

Root canal treatment is a preventive treatment that is up to 98% successful and prevents tooth extraction when appropriate conditions are met. However, some teeth have very complex root canal anatomy, all root canals cannot be detected during treatment, disinfection procedures are not performed adequately, root canals are filled in a shorter or longer size than they should be, the filling or potesis made on the teeth with root canal treatment is incompatible with the tooth or the harmony with the tooth and surrounding tissues deteriorates over time.

• What are the signs of root canal treatment failure?
• Spontaneous pain that persists for a long time after root canal treatment,
• A pain during biting that persists for a long time in the root canal treated tooth,
• The tooth that has undergone root canal treatment starts to wobble or the previous wobble increases,
• If you have symptoms such as swelling in the mouth or on the face at the level of the root canal treated tooth, your previous root canal treatment may have failed.
• Your previous root canal treatment may have failed even if none of the above symptoms are present. In some cases, although there is serious bone loss due to infection caused by improper and inadequate root canal treatment, patients may not have symptoms such as pain and swelling because there is a balance between the body system and the infection caused by root canal treatment. This does not eliminate the need for renewal of root canal treatment. For this reason, root canal treatments that do not cause symptoms in the patient but are found to be unsuccessful in clinical and radiographic examination should also be renewed to stop the progression of infection and bone destruction.

By having your root canal treated teeth examined, you can determine exactly whether the treatment has failed.

Should the tooth be extracted when root canal treatment fails?

When root canal treatment fails, extraction is not the first treatment to be considered. Today, with the development of materials and equipment used in root canal treatment, the treatment of teeth with failed root canal treatment can be renewed and up to 85% success rates are achieved.

How is retreatment of root canal treatment performed?

First, the old top filling or prosthesis, if any, is removed from the tooth whose root canal treatment needs to be renewed. Then the old root canal filling is removed and the canals are disinfected again. After the old root canals are removed, if there are signs of a serious infection, additional disinfection drugs are placed in the root canals and the tooth is followed up by covering it with a temporary filling for approximately 7-14 days. After the signs of infection have completely disappeared, the root canals of the tooth are filled with appropriate materials, just as in the previous root canal treatment. If a desired level of disinfection is achieved in the tooth after the removal of the old root canals, the root canal treatment renewal process can be successfully performed even in just one session. After the root canal treatment renewal process, the teeth are restored to the oral function by filling on the teeth or prosthesis when necessary.

Can symptoms such as pain and swelling occur during and after root canal treatment?

Renewal of root canal treatment often does not even require anesthesia because the living tissues in the root canal are removed during the previous treatment. Therefore, serious pain during the procedure is not routinely foreseen.  There is a risk of pain after root canal treatment renewal, as in other dental treatments. The pain decreases and disappears after 2-3 days after a root canal treatment procedure performed under ideal conditions.