Dr. Hall

I live in Chicago , IL.

I have had a sensitive tooth due to brushing too hard on one of my molars for some time now. I had asked my dentist if she could bond it instead of painting this temporary mustard yellow desensitive stuff on every 6 months. She said yes and did, well after the procedure my sensitivity was 100 times more sensitive.

She suggests root canal treatment. What do you think? Do I need a root canal?

Nina in Chicago

Dear Nina,

I'm not surprised that after being sensitive for as long as it has that your tooth needs a root canal procedure.

The tooth has probably been infected for some time. When your dentist finally sealed over the exposed tubules, that would cause the pressure to build up inside the tooth with no outlet, and make it much more sensitive.

I don't think your dentist did anything wrong at all - I'd have the root canal, if it's as sensitive as you're saying. It will only progress to a full-blown toothache. I'd get it done before it gets to that point.

When a tooth is sensitive over a long period of time, it's always a high risk for developing irreversible pulpitis. Then anytime you do anything to that tooth - fill or or anything - it aggravates the sensitivity even more until it finally needs a root canal treatment.

I hope this is helpful.

Yours,

Dr. David Hall

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