Fucking Hell! Root canal, dead tooth, piece just fallen off - what now?

[mineofuselessinformation]

As it says really.
I've managed to keep this tooth for forty-odd years (not that it's beautiful, it died years ago and is black, but that's ok as it's a molar, so not seen).
The bit that has come off is on the inside, so it makes it more likely to injure my tongue. It's broken off almost down to the gum....
Does anyone know what's likely to happen.

Crown ?

I don't know that there's enough of the original tooth left? It's a very big filling.
Would a crown be ok in a dead root?

You will need a radiograph taken to assess the root .
Difficult to say really .

Actually, scratch that. I'd always thought that I had a complete ring of tooth around filling - I don't. It's filling that has come off (amalgam to be precise), so does that make it repairable until the next bit falls off?

The remaining tooth wall can weaken over time and break off .

It is possible it is repairable. Bottom line ...see your dentist.

Would a bridge be suitable if a crown can't be done? Think you can just have one tooth that is somehow (you can tell I'm not a dentist) attached to teeth either side. Or an implant. Though of course, they're rather expensive.

I actually cried - and I'm not a crier. I was looking forward to a relaxing couple of weeks - heaven knows I need them! Now this...

My back tooth was almost all filling, and eventually I had a choice of trying for a root canal or removal. My root was exceedingly long so the dentist advised that she may not be able to sort it out, so as I am very phobic about dentists I opted for removal under sedation. I had to wait about a month for an appointment (NHS). I jutpst hope the tooth next to it lasts a bit longer!

I can tell you as I've had one just like it. It will need to be removed. You'll need either a bridge or an implant unless you are happy with a gap. I had an implant as it was visible when I smiled.

I broke my tooth about 18 months ago, back molar too. I was given a temporary filling which only fell out last week. I went to the dentist on Thursday and he X-rayed my tooth and after he assessed it, he came to the conclusion that if my filling hurt over time he’d have to have it pulled out. It’s fine now, but book your dentist so they can give you options. A lot of the time they want to save a tooth depending on its condition.

I am so sorry to hear about your tooth. If its any consolation I have stabbing pain in back molar tooth. A few months ago dentist replaced the very old broken filling in it and said that they would try doing this first and hopefully avoid root canal. Now pain is back and am terrified that next port of call will be root canal. Its also going to cost several hundred pounds which I don't have I can't stop worrying about it and my Easter holidays ruined.

No way of knowing if it needs to be removed without examination and radiograph OP. Please be reassured. It might be possible to crown but no one here can tell you that.
Ring your dentist Monday morning early and make an appointment.
Root filled teeth are brittle.

When a crown came off I asked the dentist what now? He said we can take the rest of the tooth out or just leave it. If we leave it, it will gradually just desintegrate. It won't hurt. So I just left it.

I have a crown on a dead tooth that broke, it's been fine for several years now, I know it won't last forever but it gives me time to save up for an implant

I have had the same happen. The dentist put an inlay in it (a kind of mini crown), which conserves more of the remaining tooth. If any more breaks, then it will be a crown apparently. But this way I get another few years first.

I had a root canal a year or 2 ago the filling fell out after a week the tooth split a week after that. A month after I had the root canal at an nhs dentist I had to pay £30 just for them to check it. I was told that it should have had a crown fitted straight away but to fix the damage now it would cost me £1600! Surprisingly I left it I've had no issues except the occasional bit of food stuck in there.

Thank you for all of the replies.
I have a bit of thinking to do as to what would be sensible cost-wise depending on what the dentist says. (I was thinking about changing my car, so I may have to decide whether keeping the tooth or having a newer car is more important.)

My crown was £500.

Oh, and interesting as to what you said about a crown, single.
I was only sixteen at the time. Apparently I had an abscess under the tooth, and had to go six times in seven weeks for treatment.
I'm not sure all of the nerve was removed at the time - I had problems a couple of years later (including pain, which I shouldn't have had if all of the nerve was out).
Since then, a few episodes of mild pain, until this - nothing recent.

P.S. I'm going to be brushing very gingerly until I am seen!

I rather big chuck of a filled tooth broke a month or so ago. The dentist was surprised as he had just taken an x-ray the week before. Some bacteria had got in under the filling and decayed my tooth. He took out the filling that was there, disinfected the tooth and re-filled with a newer adhesive filling which cost £80.

I shouldn't have read this thread, I had one of those horrible dreams about my teeth crumbling last night!

I’ve been through something similar. Always had problem with my top back molar, had abscesses over the years and finally had root canal about seven years ago. The root canal wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, may I add. My dentist told me that if I had any more pain from it, that it would have to be removed, which I was dreading. The gum was actually growing through a crack in the tooth, which was only the second case he’d seen in the previous five years. Anyway, every couple of years I would get really bad toothache for a few days and then it would subside. But last year it was so bad that I had to get an emergency appointment. The dentist (a different one) took a look at it and said it would have to come out. So I went on the waiting list for a cancellation and had it out. It was not a bother at all, didn’t even bleed and was actually painless. The gap is not visible with it being so far back and the socket is smooth now, and I just chew on the other side. Best thing I ever did!

Rose, I'm thinking about just having it taken out if it's too much trouble / cost to do anything else, but I'm a bit sad as this will be the first tooth I've lost.
wiggly, sorry to hear that, but at least it was only a dream!