Hi, I've had a dead tooth since Grade 3; I fell from the stairs and hit my tooth. I've left it alone since then. I'm now 23 years old and decided to save it by having a root canal and have a jacket made around it. The root canal was done by my dentist and I'm about ready to have the jacket. Unfortunately, there is a hole in my gums above the tooth.

In the beginning, there used to be an abscess where the hole is now situated. 7 years ago, I massaged the wheal and it was accidentally pierced, leaving a small point. After the root canal just a few days ago, the dentist noticed that same point, and once she palpated the area, she noticed a hole, like so:

Now my main concern is that this hole doesn't seem to be a wound, but a natural feature, which has evolved over the years. The dentist is telling me that I may have to remove the entire tooth if the hole does not heal. Here's my dentist's explanation: she fears that the filling will leak out of the hole and the entire procedure will be useless or incomplete. The structure inside is such that the hole is connected to the main root.

Is there some way to repair this? Are there other procedures I can look into? Has anybody seen anything like this? I need a second opinion because I doubt the hole is going to "heal", much less close in the next few months. My dentist tells me she'll have to remove the entire tooth should the hole remain.

I really need your advice. Thanks everyone and I hope you can help.


-Kris