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Hi, I am a 35 year old female in good health except that I have a lot of problems with my teeth.2 years ago I came down with an abscess in my front tooth(although it took 5 days to figure out what the pain & swelling was from because I had no tooth ache and no cavity in my tooth) and ended up in the emergency room and then had a root canal a week later. I was told that it could have been caused from a trauma to the tooth as a child since there was no cavity in the tooth. Now 2 years later it abscessed again and I had a 2nd root canal. However after the root canal I now have a lump that is tender up under my nose. The dentist I went to is suggesting a 3rd root canal or maybe another surgery where they scrape it??????????? Now I wonder if it would be in my best interest to just have the tooth pulled. I am tired of the pain and the painful root canals. And I have 5 kids and do not want to jeopardize my health.

Though I can not completely assess your situation without an exam, I can tell you that the more times a tooth needs to be re-treated with a root canal, the less likely it is for the next root canal treatment to succeed. You may also still benefit from other types of root canal treatment such as a procedure called an Apicoectomy and Retrofill in which we actually remove the part of the root which is repeatedly being infected and seal it up. Good luck with whatever you and your dentist decide!