Cracked Molar During Wisdom Tooth Extraction?

[thesmokinggum]

I had a wisdom tooth pulled last Friday. The tooth itself wasn't causing any trouble, but the gum around it was inflamed due to being pierced with the crown of the tooth. My dentist told me I could get the tooth pulled or leave it in and see if it improved, so I decided to prevent future problems and have it out.

The extraction wasn't bad (except the oral surgeon didn't have me stop my blood thinners prior to the procedure, and then it took 45 minutes to get the bleeding to stop once the tooth was pulled -- not fun!), but now the molar next to the extracted tooth is really bothering me. I had no problem with the molar before I had the wisdom tooth pulled, but now it hurts to chew and it hurts any time the tooth above it comes into contact with it. For example, we hit a big bump in the road while driving yesterday, and when the top tooth came into contact with the bottom molar, it hurt.

I also have pain in my cheek and around my jaw (I did not have any pain before I had the wisdom tooth pulled). I went back to the oral surgeon, and he said everything looks fine, but instead of getting better, the pain is getting worse. Tomorrow, it will be 8 days since I had the tooth pulled. Should I go back to my regular dentist and see if he can do X-rays? The one thing that concerns me is no one took X-rays before pulling the wisdom tooth, so if the tooth is cracked, I have no way to prove the oral surgeon did it. I understand these things happen, but if he cracked the tooth, I would at least like a little discount for whatever work is required to fix the problem. I don't think I'll have a leg to stand on if I can't prove the molar wasn't cracked before going in for the wisdom tooth extraction.

tl;dr -- I think my molar is cracked. Should I go to my general dentist, or should I insist the oral surgeon see me again?

 

[Ihatedentistss]

That seriously sucks. The number one thing I hate most about dentists and oral surgeons and what have you is that they can basically get away with murder. They're pretty much impossible to sue. I'm still considering going after the dentist I went to back in October, but the thing is that you pretty much cannot find another dentist to back up your story or say the work was negligent. They won't bad mouth each other. It's not fair which is why you're completely at the mercy of the person working on your mouth. I freaking hate it.

Maybe there's nothing wrong with the molar. I don't know if people have experienced anything like this or not. But I definitely think it should get checked out if you're still hurting and haven't been seen about. Go to whoever you're comfortable with. If you like your dentist have him see you. It could be possible it's nothing the oral surgeon did. It could just be the tooth. A tooth can have something wrong with it and it's not until the teeth around it are worked on that it surfaces.

I really hope it turns out it's just some sensitivity from having your mouth worked on and that the tooth is actually okay. Let me know what happens.

 

[farmerjeanh]

Just an aside about dealing with dental incompetence: Report them to your state licensing board (if in the states), the board seriously wants to know. One of the main reasons for negligence in the dental profession is substance abuse (unfortunately far too common in oral surgeons) and the licensing board can force them into diversion programs. Cleaning up bad dentists helps everyone, so if your dentist does something egregious in the US, please report them and help save the rest of us. Won't get your money back but is more of a civic duty.

 

[FearfulInMA]

As someone who reported an unethical professional (not a dentist) to a state licensing board, I would just say that you need to do this with caution. I was required to testify against this person and also was told that, due to filing the complaint, all of my treatment information with this person (because it became part of the case) could be available to anyone who wanted to file a freedom of information act request. This is not to say that it is never the right decision to file a complaint, but it's important to do it with eyes wide open. The boards are very unlikely to take anonymous requests seriously and it's also very rare for professionals to be sanctioned -- most often boards are made up of professionals with the same license and profession as the one you are reporting. The person I filed a compliant about (again, not a dentist) lost her license, but this is a very rare outcome.

 

[rob wain]

It's not uncommon for an adjacent tooth to hurt after an extraction particularly if there is some exposed bone socket or a dry socket. The surgery effects have to wear off before you can really identify whether a problem is from the extraction site or from the adjacent tooth.
It's probable that there was an xray available from before the wisdom tooth was removed though it's not likely that it would show up a crack in the tooth so that wouldnt be conclusive either way. However if the problem in the adjacent tooth started at the same time as the extraction then the chances are the extraction caused it - stands to reason.
Go see the oral surgeon for possible dry socket, let the area settle post surgery then reassess the adjacent molar.
best of luck