Does having a root canal normally result in the tooth falling out?

It sure isn’t supposed to. There is something definitely not right about this. Even if you have not experienced any discomfort, call your dentist, pronto.

It can do. If the tooth needed root canal then it was very seriously damaged to start off with and the root canal is a last ditch attempt to save whats left. I have had two root canals. One is fine but the other has had to be rescued by having titanium pins shoved through it into the jaw to hold in place.

No. quite the opposite. The whole idea behind a root canal is to save the tooth (ironically by killing it). In short, a root canal is needed when decay has reached a point where the tooth is unable to be saved by a filling. In that case the root is removed (thus the name) thus leaving a “dead” but perfectly functional inert tooth that will stay rooted in the bone.

I’ve never heard of one just coming out like that! I’ve heard of them breaking because the person opted to not get it crowned, but never just coming out.

It was four years ago and the endodontist drilled through the tooth and crown to do the job. At least I think it was crowned.

Are you sure it was the tooth? It could have been the crown on the tooth. Why would the dentist drill through your tooth, and crown, to do a root canal? Basically, the tooth is drilled, then the root canal is performed, then the crown is put on to protect the dead tooth.

I have had a few root canals (one has a crown) and this has never happened to me. Did you ask your dentist what, how and why this happened? It almost sounds like the dentist didn’t do it right the first time and had to go back in to redo it.

I don’t think so. I had one and my tooth is fine.

A dentist never drills through a crown. Doing do destroys the crown. My daughter recently had a root canal, but because she already had a crown, they had to cut the gum and go in through the side. It took her a week to recover, as you might imagine.

they NEVER drill though a crown? Definitely not? Because if that is true, I caused the problem by not having it crowned after the r/c and now I need a bridge. As soon as it fell out I switched dentists and the new dentist dug out all the whatever that was left in there after it fell out. I never felt a thing but man, was I high. Then the gum smoothed over the hole like he said it would.

@snowberry a dentist will often drill into a crown to remove it before doing the root canal and then placing a new crown. For some teeth this is the only feasible aproach. Its also quciker and much less traumatic than a surgical approach. I’ve also had a crown removed without it being damaged so the dentist could work on the tooth (molar) behind it more easily.

OK, I stand corrected. All I know is what my daughter’s dentist told her, that it would weaken and maybe break the crown, so they went in through the gum. That was a nasty week for her, for all of us.