Expert: Frederick R. Liewehr DDS, MS, FICD - 6/7/2007

Question
Hello Doctor, My wisdom tooth was paining me(not a lot) since the last week.Its only painining when i bite with it,not otherwise.My dentist said i will need a root canal done on it.He has seen the small xray(not the panaromic one).Actually i had a rather large filling done on the back side(facing the neck) of that same wisdom tooth 4 years ago.So the dentist said that first that filling has to be removed,then a root canal performed,and then a filling will be put on this molar.He said i can wait upto 1 year before putting a crown and a post.I am trying to postpone putting the crown and post till when i go back to India(native country),where it will be much cheaper.How long could i safely use that molar without the crown and post.What are the chances of it fracturing or any other complications without the post and crown.Also what procedure will be employed to fit the crown and post after lets say a year? What do u suggest doctor.Should i try to postpone the root canal treatment by a few weeks or months,or will it make my tooth worse(i dont mind the pain),but i dont want further complications which can make me loose my tooth.Also is root canal treatment advised on the wisdom tooth.Thanks a lot Doctor

Answer
To give you an appropriate answer to your question, I would need to examine you, which of course I cannot do. It is somewhat unusual to put the money into restoring a third molar for many reasons, so I could not advise you whether this would be worth the expense without an examination. If, however, you decide to do so, it will need to have a crown ASAP. Tooth structure is removed during the treatment, so you tooth will be weaker than it already is. Your jaw is like a nutcracker, so you put the most force on the teeth in the back, so this weak tooth would be subjected to a lot of pressure. So, there would be a very good chance that the tooth would fracture. I have no idea where your dentist got that "1 year" figure; there is  absolutely no evidence to support it. I have seen people fracture their teeth the same day they had the endodontic treatment. So, you need to think of the endo as only a part of the complete package, and don't attempt one without the other. Whether you can wait to have the endo done I could not say without examining you. Sorry.