Root canal???

all was find until i ate some hard candy on my crown which irritated it and i have bad tooth pain, went in to the dentist and he took xrays and said.. it looks a little suspicious and saw the gum irritated, but not conclusive evidence on the xray that i really needed a root canal, he basically was telling me that he is not sure if i need one or not but recommends it.. what do you think???
it only happened since i was eating hard candy on that tooth and sometimes i clench at night, this happened before and after antibiotics i was fine for six months then i ate the hard candy again.. which started this process over again..
any advice???
i really cannot afford the 1,000 dollars they want to have it done. any ideas for me??

You just answered your own question... Doc Said you may not need one but he would recommend it and you don't have the extra money?? Then nope don't spend your money on something that doesn't even need to be done... Dental coverage is such a joke I can't believe it's so expensive for this, I think we all get dentures later in life then why waste your money on this crap....

Apply clove oil , wait for some time, and avoid eating hard stuff with that part of the mouth. From http://www.drcaird.com/rootcanal.html

If your tooth hurts, you probably did something to it. You can try to wait it out and see how it does before you make any decisions about a root canal. You didn't say how long it was hurting? It is possible to have a fractured tooth and not have it show up on an Xray due to a limited view. I had a tooth that had a root canal done and it still hurt long after the root canal was done. I refused to part with the tooth (facing extraction) and just gave it time. The nerve calmed down, but the dentist told me this was not the norm. I am facing another rootcanal due to eating hard pretzels. I broke off half a tooth almost right down to the filling. Point being, I have learned my lesson to not eat hard things.

it started hurting early this morning. and new the warning signs and went right in.
on the xrays it shows nothing wrong with the tooth but he pointed out it shows supicious on the gum... i felt like saying duh thats where its infected..lol
but it was brought on after eating hte hard candy which i have been snacking on for the past few days..
he just seems very uncertain and i dont part easy with my money...
by the way thanks in advance for all your answers!!!!!