Sometimes teeth need root canal treatment because of deep decay, crack or chip in the tooth, and trauma etc. In most cases, the dentist will suggest to put a crown after root canal treatment. But what if I just leave the tooth without a crown?
This is what may happen to a root canal treated tooth without a crown - It splits and needs extraction.
From the x-ray, we can see lots of tooth structure had been removed because of root canal treatment. The tooth was weak and that's why a crown was recommended. The weak tooth couldn't stand normal chewing force and cracked. Unfortunately the tooth had to be removed because it split into halves.