With the appropriate care, your teeth that have had endodontic (root canal) treatment can last as long as other natural teeth. Occasionally, the infection around the tooth that undergone endodontic treatment may not heal or pain may continue despite therapy.  In some rare cases, the tooth may respond well to treatment only to have the disease return months or years after treatment.

In many of these cases, Endodontic Retreatment may be helpful to repair your tooth.

Once retreatment has been selected as a solution to your problem, the endodontist will reopen your tooth to gain access to the root canal filling material. This restorative material will be removed to enable access to the root canal. The endodontist will now clean the canals and carefully examine the inside of the problematic tooth. Once cleaned, the canals will be filled with new filling material and sealed. The access opening of the tooth is then sealed with temporary filling. From here, you will need to return to your dentist as soon as possible for permanent restoration or crown. In some cases the endodontist may be the one to seal the tooth more permanently in preparation for the general dentist to place a crown.

So the key point here is to remember that you will need to return to your dentist as soon as possible in order to have a new crown or restoration placed on the tooth to restore full functionality.