Constant low level anxiety wearing me down

[chloe159]

Hi - bit of a long story but I really need some support

I've always had a fear of the dentist - had quite a few fillings as a child and used to be needle phobic although I can cope with needles now - but the fear had got much better in recent years.

In Jan 2010 I suddenly got a very bad pain in one tooth, went to my dentist and he filled it. This was really traumatic, the nerve was exposed and he didnt use adequate anaesthetic. I was hysterical and he ignored me completely and carried on. At the end he told me if the pain didnt go I would need root canal - obviously I was totally terrified.

After that the pain still continued to get worse so I knew I needed to go back. I asked around and was recommended to a private dentist who specialises in phobics. I went there (I was a nervous wreck) and they said I did need root canal, but they gave me a LOT of reassurance, as well as gas and air, and I managed to have it done! And I can honestly say it was totally painless.

They did say to me that because the tooth would now be very brittle after the root canal, that to avoid the risk of it cracking in the future I should have a crown done. This obviously really scared me but I decided it was for the best, so last August I had the crown done on the sme tooth. This was also NOT painful or traumatic, but obviously I was very anxious about it.

Since having the root canal and the crown, I have had 'twinges' in the tooth (I'm pretty sure it's the same tooth). Somtimes nothing for a while but more recently I'm feeling soemthing multiple times every day. I have been back to the dentist a few times, most recently in October, because when I feel somethign there I get so anxious that I want it to be checked out. He keeps saying there is nothing there, and that I shouldnt feel anything anyway because there is no nerve.

But now i can feel it frequently and I'm so scared. I think about it almost all day long. It's keeping me awake, I'm having nightmares that the tooth is crumbling.. I keep thinking maybe I have phantom pain syndrome, maybe I'm so focussed on it and anxious that I imagine the feeling. Or maybe there is something wrong in the tooth next to it that wasn't there in October when I last had an xray. I'm sorry to go on but I just can't cope with the constant anxiety anymore. I don't know what to do to change the way i feel.

 

[mumof3]

Chloe, there's proberly someone on here that can give you more answers, so hold on.

Its obviously bothering you alot, whether there is something wrong or not. If after numerous visits your dentist is convinced there's nothing wrong, then if it were me I would go see another dentist for further reassurance and go from there

 

[brit]

Since having the root canal and the crown, I have had 'twinges' in the tooth (I'm pretty sure it's the same tooth). Somtimes nothing for a while but more recently I'm feeling soemthing multiple times every day. I have been back to the dentist a few times, most recently in October, because when I feel somethign there I get so anxious that I want it to be checked out. He keeps saying there is nothing there, and that I shouldnt feel anything anyway because there is no nerve.

Hi Chloe
Don't worry....I might move this to Dentistry Questions. First of all congratulations for getting yourself the painfree care you deserve after your bad experience elsewhere - why not report that dentist to the authorities for assaulting you by carrying on when you wanted him to stop - I think you can do it online or at the very least leave a bad review for him on the NHS website if you are in the UK and it was an NHS dentist.

Anyway, root canals I have a bit of experience of as a patient, they do sometimes feel weird afterwards...when you say twinge do you mean pain or do you just mean awareness sensation that is not really pain? If so lots of people who have had root canals know what you mean....it will not necessarily get any worse and quite often comes and goes sometimes with months of feeling fine.

Root canals are very complex (especially in molars) and sometimes when this happens it is because a canal in the tooth was missed..the strange sensations even though the nerve has gone tend to come when you are rundown.

If it flares up to the point of involving 'real pain' (likely abscess) then it would be wise to consult an endodontist (a root canal specialist) with a view to doing a retreat - maybe sth was missed. Often they can do this through the crown.

I had one rct'd tooth which got these weird twinges occasionally over almost two decades before it flared up completely and I had it retreated painlessly by an endodontist.

So give it some time...if you really feel you can't live with it then consult an endodontist.
It may just need longer to settle down...mine was a badly done rct. Yours may have been much more competently done and you just need to give it more time.