root canal filling overextended

[Gerrard]

Hi

I had a root canal filling three years ago on my top front tooth. The tooth has been fine since it was root filled and I was not aware of any problems with it.

Recently I moved house and found a new dentist. The new dentist took an xray of the tooth and said that the root canal filling is overextended. He said he could not see any problems other than that with the tooth.

I would like to know if an overextended root filling could cause any long term damage and if so, what can I do to correct the problem?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi

Thank you for your email. An overextended root canal may cause problems long term but a lot of the time, an overextended root canal filling may not cause you any problems. Hence the root canal needs to be kept under close review if its going to be left as it is.

If you are worried about the root canal filling, you can ask your dentist to refer you to a root canal specialist for second opinion regarding this tooth.

Your options for changing the root canal are to have re-root canal treatment but sometimes its not possible to remove all overextended root filling material with re-root canal treatment alone and in that situation you may need an apicectomy.