Greetings:

I was in a bicycle accident in 1964 when I was 17 years old. I didn't know it at the time, but the accident caused hairline fractures of several teeth, fractures which did not show up on x-rays. Years later, these teeth one by one became abcessed. Each time I had root canal therapy which seemed to work, at least for a while. However, in each instance the pain eventually came back. The first time it happened I had the root canal redone, this time with an apicoectomy and a retrograde filling. Once again it was temporarily successful. But a year later, that second root canal failed, and I had the tooth taken out. Only then did the dentist realize it was fractured.

After that experience I gave the dentists one chance. If a root canal works, great. If it fails, take the tooth out. So far my score is seven failures and two successes. But then I'm an exceptional case. Each of those seven failures turned out to be a tooth with a hidden fracture.

--- Steve