Expert: Frederick R. Liewehr DDS, MS, FICD - 7/27/2006

Question
I had a large filling come out of my molar and my dentist says I need a root canal. He doesn't understand why I don't have any pain because it was deep. If I don't have pain, why can't he just put in a filling, why a root canal?

Answer
I can't really answer your question, why your dentist recommended endodontic therapy, without examining you myself. There are, however, a number of reasons to perform endodontic therapy other than your having a toothache. A simple one it that in the case of a large filling where there has been a lot of destruction of the crown of the tooth, there may not be enough tooth structure left to hold the filling in (the filling does not support the tooth, it is the other way around) and he may want to use the inside of the tooth to hold the filling in. Another reason could be that the pulp, or "nerve", of the tooth is already dead. In this case, the root canal could be infected but you would not feel it because the nerve no longer functions. So, you really need to ask him that question, knowing that toothache is not the only reason he may be recommending the procedure. Good luck!

Dr. Liewehr