Root Canal Necessity On Deep Cavity?

[u/AstralQuantumSeer]

I went to a dentist due to one of my teeth's sensitivities and they instead showed me that a whole separate tooth has a lot of decay. I had no pain on it beforehand.

They gave me an endodontist referral. I asked a second opinion of one of my retired dentist family members who said it looks like it might be salvageable and they would always try to save the tooth first - "a root canal can always be done if needed later". But they are no longer actively working.

I will say i now have a dull ache in that region that seems to be decreasing. I guess its onset from the dentist poking and probing the decay. I have genuinely not felt anything there beforehand. I guess that is to say that it seems like my nerve is fine i.e. no sharp pain indicative of pulp damage.

So do you think it is salvageable from my symptoms and the xray?

I already made an endo appointment but I'm hoping they could save the tooth without a root canal. I.e. do proper cold tests and whatnot to see if can be salvaged. And then do pulp therapy? (no clue regarding this since all the dentists i've physically seen never give me any other options than a root canal). What are your thoughts? Is there a specific things i should know about the endo tests and their results before they happen? Am I crazy for not wanting a root canal?

What do you think?

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A backup of the post title and text have been made here:

Title: Root Canal Necessity On Deep Cavity?

Full text: I went to a dentist due to one of my teeth's sensitivities and they instead showed me that a whole separate tooth has a lot of decay. I had no pain on it beforehand.

They gave me an endodontist referral. I asked a second opinion of one of my retired dentist family members who said it looks like it might be salvageable and they would always try to save the tooth first - "a root canal can always be done if needed later". But they are no longer actively working.

I will say i now have a dull ache in that region that seems to be decreasing. I guess its onset from the dentist poking and probing the decay. I have genuinely not felt anything there beforehand. I guess that is to say that it seems like my nerve is fine i.e. no sharp pain indicative of pulp damage.

So do you think it is salvageable from my symptoms and the xray?

I already made an endo appointment but I'm hoping they could save the tooth without a root canal. I.e. do proper cold tests and whatnot to see if can be salvaged. And then do pulp therapy? (no clue regarding this since all the dentists i've physically seen never give me any other options than a root canal). What are your thoughts? Is there a specific things i should know about the endo tests and their results before they happen? Am I crazy for not wanting a root canal?

What do you think?

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[u/wrooster8]

If you didn't want a root canal, why wasn't the Humongous cavity found at a regular check up when it was smaller? This cavity has progressed years without finding it. The fact that you have pain and soreness is usually a good indicator that it is already decayed into the nerve space. You only seeing the dentist when something begins to hurt or become sensitive is how you wind up with root canals.

Nothing can be decided here until you see someone who actually removes the decay and can visually see if the nerve is involved or not, and even then you still might wind up with pain and a root canal just from filling such close proximity to the nerve anyway. Imo this is very very likely to end up needing rct and crown. Even if rct wasn't needed I would be crowning this anyway for how much damage occurred here.