Expert: Frederick R. Liewehr DDS, MS, FICD - 10/3/2007

Question
I'm a 26 yr. old female. I had a root canal done over a year ago in one of my front teeth. The file broke off inside my tooth, my dentist finished around it and left the file piece in the canal, he closed around it. My question is, what kind of side affects can be caused from having this in my tooth? Can it cause things like Constant light sensitivity, pain with bright light, changes in vision, constant forehead and eye pressure, frequent "on/off" daily dull forehead pain, occasional moderate forehead pain, occasional dizziness, constant fatigue, frequent daily eyelid twitch, loss of appetite, mild frequent nausea, mild memory problems and problems with thinking clearly?

Answer
The goal of endodontic therapy is to remove the diseased or
necrotic (dead) pulp (nerve) from your tooth, and then to seal it up so that it cannot become (re)infected. In order to accomplish this, we use small instruments called files. From time to time, one of these files breaks in the tooth, because they are very small indeed, some barely larger in diameter than a hair.
  What difference does that make? Well, it depends upon the effect the broken file has on our accomplishing our objective. If the canal was already clean when the file broke, and if we can fill around it or if it fills the canal by itself, it should make no difference at all. If, however, the canal is still full of dead tissue and bacteria when the file breaks, and it blocks the canal, making it impossible for us to remove the tissue and bacteria, the endodontic therapy could fail.
   As for the symptoms you describe, they do not sound dentally related. I suggest you see your physician.