Is my dentist doing something wrong!!?

[swift123]

I am a 35yo female and very bad teeth run in my family. I have had probably 5 root canals and 3-4 crowns. I see a very pricy dentist in greater Boston and the staff and dentists (at least my dentist) are amazing in terms of customer service. Unfortunately my teeth keep having issues and now I am wondering if my dentist is a "bad dentist" or if my issues are just unavoidable.

I brush twice a day every day and floss every day. I try to wear by bite guard for grinding every night. I get my teeth cleaned every 6 months as instructed. I was in my dentist office for a cleaning the last week of November, and then again 2 weeks later for a root canal on a lower tooth. Today, I just noticed that I have an abscess forming in my upper tooth (I've never had one before, but the intense pressure and bulge in the gum above the tooth seem to be a dead giveaway). My question is...how did this go unnoticed. Doesn't an abscess form as a result of a cavity that is not taken care of? If so, isn't that what X-rays and visual exams are for? Why wouldn't my dentist have noticed a cavity large enough to lead to an abscess before it became an abscess?

This is not the first time something like this has made me question if I have bad luck or if something is wrong. I was complaining about a tooth that was hurting for the longest time. My dentist first said it could just be that it was ground down too much and thats why it was sensitive, so he added a bit of filling to it to build it back up. That didn't help, and 6 months later saw him again for a cleaning and mentioned it was still bothering me. He said the bite might just be "off" and so he adjusted it a bit. The next week, the tooth next to it's crown fell off. Turns out that it was not actually that tooth that was hurting, it was the tooth next to it with the loose crown. At that point, it had been like 9 months or hurting and of course it ended up needing a root canal. Should he have noticed that the tooth next to it was having a failing crown even though I couldn't identify that that was the tooth in pain?

He also gave me a crown (about 2 years ago), on the tooth next to the tooth that now has the abscess. There has always been what seems like a large gap between that crown and the tooth that now has the abscess. Food gets caught between them ALL the time and I have to floss constantly between them as a result. I am wondering if it is because that crown was not done properly and all the food that gets in there is what ruined this tooth that now has the abscess.

I have no idea if I just have bad luck, or I need a new dentist. Please help!

 

[Matt8110]

I don't have any experience with crowns or root canals, but there have been times my dentist hasn't noticed just how bad a tooth is. I'm not sure about your dentist's work since I've only had fillings and they seem to hold up just fine, but I'd chock the not knowing the crown was loose to just being human and not thinking about it

 

[Enarete]

Dear Swift,

not being a dentist I cannot tell much to the concrete issues you describe, but would like to give you a bit of feedback anyway.

I understand your frustration since you brush and floss and go to the dentist regularly and despite this you still keep having problems and now wonder why. Coming from a place of regular checkups and cleanings you shouldn't be in pain for 9 months and then get a root canal. You also should rely on your dentist and trust his opinion which at this stage is not easy (and probably leads you to this post).

My advice is: get a second opinion. Find a practice that you feel might be good and tell them about your concerns and ask them all this questions. I would say that there is no 'bad luck' - diagnosis in dentistry. If there is something that makes you more prone to problems, a good dentist should find a way how to adress it and save you from further suffering, because that's the reason you visit a practice every 6 months.

My experience is that every dentist works differently - my old one opened a tooth 4 times to 'have a look' because it wasn't obvious why I still have pain. Its also an area I have floss after every meal because a half of it would get cought in the huge gap and I always thought this was the way it is.
My current dentist asked right in our initial appointment about areas where food gets caught. They ask it in the new patient forms so it seems to be relevant. As he took a look he said right away that with a rubber dam and proper bonding it's possible to make the filling more tight since a proper moisture controll is needed for that kind of filling. My old dentist never suggested this.

I wouldn't say that one of the practices was bad and the other good but I rely on my current dentist and feel like he really knows what he is doing which gives me the trust to adress all my concerns and to know he will always find a solution.
So if you do not have this feeling with your current dentist and if you keep having problems and do not get answers, I would suggest you look around for someone who can give you those answers.

 

[comfortdentist]

I am a 35yo female and very bad teeth run in my family. I have had probably 5 root canals and 3-4 crowns. I see a very pricy dentist in greater Boston and the staff and dentists (at least my dentist) are amazing in terms of customer service. Unfortunately my teeth keep having issues and now I am wondering if my dentist is a "bad dentist" or if my issues are just unavoidable.

I brush twice a day every day and floss every day. I try to wear by bite guard for grinding every night. I get my teeth cleaned every 6 months as instructed. I was in my dentist office for a cleaning the last week of November, and then again 2 weeks later for a root canal on a lower tooth. Today, I just noticed that I have an abscess forming in my upper tooth (I've never had one before, but the intense pressure and bulge in the gum above the tooth seem to be a dead giveaway). My question is...how did this go unnoticed. Doesn't an abscess form as a result of a cavity that is not taken care of? If so, isn't that what X-rays and visual exams are for? Why wouldn't my dentist have noticed a cavity large enough to lead to an abscess before it became an abscess?

This is not the first time something like this has made me question if I have bad luck or if something is wrong. I was complaining about a tooth that was hurting for the longest time. My dentist first said it could just be that it was ground down too much and thats why it was sensitive, so he added a bit of filling to it to build it back up. That didn't help, and 6 months later saw him again for a cleaning and mentioned it was still bothering me. He said the bite might just be "off" and so he adjusted it a bit. The next week, the tooth next to it's crown fell off. Turns out that it was not actually that tooth that was hurting, it was the tooth next to it with the loose crown. At that point, it had been like 9 months or hurting and of course it ended up needing a root canal. Should he have noticed that the tooth next to it was having a failing crown even though I couldn't identify that that was the tooth in pain?

He also gave me a crown (about 2 years ago), on the tooth next to the tooth that now has the abscess. There has always been what seems like a large gap between that crown and the tooth that now has the abscess. Food gets caught between them ALL the time and I have to floss constantly between them as a result. I am wondering if it is because that crown was not done properly and all the food that gets in there is what ruined this tooth that now has the abscess.

I have no idea if I just have bad luck, or I need a new dentist. Please help!

Abscesses can happen any day anytime.
But this is different. "
He also gave me a crown (about 2 years ago), on the tooth next to the tooth that now has the abscess. There has always been what seems like a large gap between that crown and the tooth that now has the abscess. Food gets caught between them ALL the time and I have to floss constantly between them as a result. I am wondering if it is because that crown was not done properly and all the food that gets in there is what ruined this tooth that now has the abscess.

When you have a crown placed there are a few essential items that must occur.
The bite must be right. You may need to return to adjust the bite and this is acceptable as it happens with all dentists now and then.
The crown must make a nice contact with the adjacent teeth if reasonable(sometimes the gap is huge so a large space is left). If there isn't a good contact then food packs between the teeth. NOT acceptable. Go back and have it corrected. Corrections may be one of the following: Replace the adjacent restoration if the tooth already has one. If restoration is healthy then no cost. Secondly if the adjacent tooth is virgin then the dentist must replace the crown. Again at no cost.
As to the above I had done both.

 

[FearfulInMA]

swift123 - I sent you a message.