I had a root canal done and it abscessed. I haven’t got it finished all the way yet. Can I safely pull the tooth, and be done with it.

Answer:

Now before you think about pulling the tooth, let’s think about some other factors that will come into play down the road.  Once that tooth is gone, the tooth behind it and the tooth across from it (in the opposite jaw) will begin to slowly drift into the open space.  This will cause the other teeth to drift also, resulting in open spaces amongst your teeth.  You will eventually have to replace the space with either a bridge, implant, or partial denture which are all pretty costly.

Root canal procedures don’t have a 100% success rate, sometimes they do fail.  However, retreatment is always an option and definitely cheaper as compared to some of your other options.  Being that your procedure wasn’t finished, the pathway for bacteria wasn’t completely blocked meaning it had an opportunity to repopulate or wasn’t completely removed.

If would be best, in the long run, if you were to return to have the procedure completed or retreated.  Yea, it may be cheaper and easier to pull the tooth now, but believe us, you may regret this decision down the road.

Good luck with your decision,

SaveMySmile Team