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Horrible toothache, root canal beneficial?

L

lithn

Junior member
Joined
Apr 1, 2015
Messages
1
Around two months ago I went to the dentist because a tooth (back bottom molar) had started to become sensitive to hot and cold. The dentist did an x-ray, examined it and could not see a reason for the sensitivity but decided to replace an old amalgam filling (approx 10 years) just in case this was the culprit. Shortly after this, my tooth started to hurt to bite down on, progressively over a few days becoming very severe and the tooth behind it was just as painful to touch.

I went back to the dentist who replaced the filling and they couldn't see a problem with the tooth (no x-ray done) and decided to go to another dentist for a second opinion. This dentist noted that there was a little bit of inflammation visible on the x-ray, but that didn't explain how severe the pain was and the fact that the tooth behind was very sore as well. This dentist recommended root canal or extraction.

This pain subsided after about 3 weeks, however the tooth still didn't feel quite right (not sure how to explain the feeling, significantly less pain though).

Fast forward to now ---

The last few days I have had the severe toothache return in the same teeth, worsening to the point where I cannot sleep, eat or barely function. The tooth is not particularly sensitive to hot/cold but is extremely painful to touch (even with a toothbrush softly). I went to my regular dentist this morning, who did an x-ray and told me that both of my back teeth are dying, but that she cant see a reason why that would be happening. The x-ray showed significant inflammation under the root (ligament? uncertain of the terms/names she used sorry), but no pulp was exposed/no deep filling and no mention of an abscess.

Her recommendation was that I get root canal of both teeth done ASAP.

Now my question is, will this necessarily be solved by root canal? Reason for asking is that this dentist and the other ones I saw previously couldn't understand why I had such significant pain and why the teeth are dying at all.

Has anyone else had anything similar happen?

Just as a side note, I have Behcet's Disease (not sure if that is useful info).
 
Around two months ago I went to the dentist because a tooth (back bottom molar) had started to become sensitive to hot and cold. The dentist did an x-ray, examined it and could not see a reason for the sensitivity but decided to replace an old amalgam filling (approx 10 years) just in case this was the culprit. Shortly after this, my tooth started to hurt to bite down on, progressively over a few days becoming very severe and the tooth behind it was just as painful to touch.

I went back to the dentist who replaced the filling and they couldn't see a problem with the tooth (no x-ray done) and decided to go to another dentist for a second opinion. This dentist noted that there was a little bit of inflammation visible on the x-ray, but that didn't explain how severe the pain was and the fact that the tooth behind was very sore as well. This dentist recommended root canal or extraction.

This pain subsided after about 3 weeks, however the tooth still didn't feel quite right (not sure how to explain the feeling, significantly less pain though).

Fast forward to now ---

The last few days I have had the severe toothache return in the same teeth, worsening to the point where I cannot sleep, eat or barely function. The tooth is not particularly sensitive to hot/cold but is extremely painful to touch (even with a toothbrush softly). I went to my regular dentist this morning, who did an x-ray and told me that both of my back teeth are dying, but that she cant see a reason why that would be happening. The x-ray showed significant inflammation under the root (ligament? uncertain of the terms/names she used sorry), but no pulp was exposed/no deep filling and no mention of an abscess.

Her recommendation was that I get root canal of both teeth done ASAP.

Now my question is, will this necessarily be solved by root canal? Reason for asking is that this dentist and the other ones I saw previously couldn't understand why I had such significant pain and why the teeth are dying at all.

Has anyone else had anything similar happen?

Just as a side note, I have Behcet's Disease (not sure if that is useful info).


any time you fill a tooth there is a small risk of the nerve dying, when you remove an old filling and refill the risk is slightly higher since the tooth has already been worked on before. the irritation causes swelling, the swelling cuts off the tooth's already limited blood supply and the tooth can die. the only remedy for a dead or dying tooth is extraction or root canal. root canals are approximately 95% successful in saving teeth
 
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