Expert: Frederick R. Liewehr DDS, MS, FICD - 9/26/2006

Question
Could you please tell me what the symptoms are of a vertical root fracture resulting from root canal treatment?     Is this very common?   Will the fracture show on an x-ray?

Thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi Katie,
    Fractured roots generally cause mild discomfort; sometimes all the time, usually more so when biting. In some cases a "gum boil" may periodically appear next to the tooth,then burst and go away, often to reappear later. Whether or not you can see it on a radiograph depends how it is fractured; if it is in line with the beam of the x-ray you can see it, but if not it will not show up. We can sometimes detect it as a "halo" radiolucency on the film, and sometimes there are other little hints we can get from looking at the film. There is a nice discussion of cracks and fractures here http://www.endodovgan.com/Endoinfo_Cracked_Fractured.htm; scroll down to the bottom particularly and look at the part on vertiacal root fractures. Hope this helps.

Dr. Liewehr