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r/askdentists•
doubledmaster

Should dentist be able to identify root canal before drilling cavity?

Dentist took x-rays, said I have a cavity. Starts to remove cavity, eventually drills down near root and tells me I need to have a root canal or get the tooth removed as there is still decay. Should he have been able to detect that I needed a root canal before working on it? A bit frustrated and concerned as now I'm paying for his attempt at removing the cavity and the root canal which I plan on going forward with.

Posted Nov 26, 2021, 2:22 AM UTC

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eran76General Dentist•

X-rays are 2D, but teeth and decay are 3D, so perfect knowledge prior to the start of treatment is not always possible or even realistic. If you have deep decay, that's on you not your dentist. If you now need a root canal that is very much the consequence of that very same deep decay.

7
drroubGeneral Dentist•

Toss in that even the best digital X-rays will show the decay, but the ‘quality’ (soft and gooey vs hard and mostly stained dentin) of the decay remains unknown until we get into it. Toss in that pulps can range in sizes and it can go endo on what would seem to be a routine filling. This is part of the reason we urge patients to get fillings done while they are small and barely through the enamel.

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