Molar bitting pain 15 years after post and core

[YLD]

I’m not sure whether this procedure is called “post and core” though.

Around 15 -18 years ago one of my molar lost most of the part of the tooth and only had the root left (with the root canal done already), the dentist “drilled” a crown - with something like a screw into the tooth root, to make the crown stable. The crown looks like a metal one.

Is it called “Post and Core”?

This crown has been working fine for around 15 - 18 years. Lately it starts to feel biting pain when I bite something harder such as seeds or hard cracker.

I am attaching the X-ray photos which was take lately - one was taken 2 months ago and another was taken 2 weeks ago. Could anyone tell me what could cause the biting pain? What am I supposed to do?

Any professional advice is highly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Dr M]

On the x-ray it appears like on of the roots on the molar was not filled during the initial root canal treatment and now it is starting to flare up. 18 years for a root canal to last, is a long time. If I were you, I would wait until the tooth becomes more symptomatic. Then you can maybe consider one course of antibiotics. This is not a solution to the problem, but might keep the tooth symptom free for a period of time.
If the antibiotics no longer do the trick, or if they don't work at all, I would then consider possibly removing the tooth and replacing it with an implant. Even if a root canal redo is also an option, the fact that it has a post and core, might make this procedure too risky, since you will have to remove it before trying the re-do.