G
gadforever
Junior member
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Messages
- 4
- Location
- USA
NOTE: I apologize in advance for the length of this post, and flagrantly admit that I am venting all my troubles to you good people. Please forgive me.
So, I've spent the last two months agonizing over a tooth, and it seems that everything that could go wrong did go wrong, all the way up to what appears to be facial nerve damage.
Let me do a "quick" recap:
1) On August 1st, my lower left second molar, which had a very large, deep filling in it, broke, and the filling came out. I went to an emergency appointment at my dentist's office, as the nerve inside the tooth was practically exposed, but all she had time to do that day was...glue the broken part back to the tooth, filling included, as a stopgap measure.
2) A few weeks later, I went in for a regular appointment and had a core build-up and crown prep done, as the dentist said she didn't think the tooth needed a root canal. The temporary crown she gave me that day didn't fit quite right despite adjustments, and I spent the next four weeks in mild discomfort because I couldn't bite right on the tooth. But I wasn't in any real pain.
3) Finally, I got the permanent crown put on. And that was when things went from bad to worse. The tooth, which hadn't been sensitive at all while I had the temp on, suddenly got extremely sensitive to cold and to drilling--the dentist couldn't even adjust the occlusion without numbing me. Also, my gums around the crown got very sore. So my dentist then said that I needed to see an endodontist and discuss getting a root canal.
Interlude: By this point, I had been suffering from pain and/or discomfort in that tooth for almost two whole months, and I'd had several breakdowns involving copious amounts of crying because I was afraid 1) I had an infection/was going to get an infection and/or 2) I was going to end up bankrupt from all the money I had to spend fixing this tooth.
4) Reluctantly, I booked a consultation with the endodontist--only I didn't end up keeping the appointment. A few days after the final visit to my regular dentist, where she told me that I probably needed a root canal, the gum irritation and the occasional aching in the crowned tooth finally drove me over the edge. I called the oral surgeon who got my wisdom teeth out and asked if I could get an extraction done, but unfortunately, he was booked up a whole month in advance.
And here's where I made what seems to be a horrible misstep. I was so frustrated and anxious at this point that I found another local regular dentist who did extractions in office and booked an appointment...Obviously, you know where this is going.
5) I went to the appointment with the second dentist, who took one look at my tooth and immediately got angry--because it was obvious to him that my gums were inflamed because I was ALLERGIC to the freaking metal in the crown. I didn't even know that was a thing that could happen, and my other dentist never even warned me that could happen. She didn't offer me a choice of crown materials or anything. She just got me a porcelain on metal crown, and the metal contained nickel...which I am mildly allergic to. (So even if I had opted for the root canal, I still would have had to pay for a SECOND crown, because I was allergic to the original one.)
6) THAT right there pushed me over the edge. I was completely done with this freaking tooth, and I wasn't willing to spend thousands more dollars and weeks more of my time (most of it spent anxious to the point of tears) trying to save this stupid tooth. So I told the new dentist to extract the frigging thing.
Hoo boy, am I starting to regret that...
7) The dentist numbed me up, like usual, and I didn't notice anything amiss at that point. Then he got to the actual extraction, which turned out to be complicated, because there was so little tooth structure left that he couldn't get a good hold on the thing. It broke multiple times, and he ended up drilling it into pieces and digging the huge, curved root out of the socket with some triangular root-digging tool. Thankfully, I did not feel any of this, because I was numb.
Perhaps a little too numb...
8) Now we get to the crux of the issue. I'm a little over 84 hours post extraction, and over the last 24 hours, I've noticed some...odd things. For the first 48 hours or so, everything seemed pretty normal. The original numbness from the injection appeared to wear off, like usual. My jaw got swollen and stiff, like usual. The socket stopped bleeding, formed a clot, and then started forming granulation tissue, like usual. I've noticed that the extraction site appears to be closing up at a reasonable rate--it was a huge, gaping crater at first, due to the shape of mouth--and I don't seem to have developed dry socket.
So, what's the problem? Well, I've been having issues with weird numbness and tingling in my jaw and cheek, on the side where the molar was extracted. If I press down on the external area of my jaw right next to the extraction site, it feels the way it does when you're coming down from being numbed. It's not totally numb, and it's not quite tingly, but it's not quite normal.
Sometimes, the sensation spreads upward into my cheek or across my lips and chin. Sometimes, I get a weird sensation in my teeth and gums on the left side of my mouth. And best of all, sometimes, I get a sharp jolt of pain very deep inside my jaw that feels eerily similar the kind of jolt you get when the dentist accidentally jabs the needle directly into the nerve.
FINALLY, we get to my question. Assuming I don't have a stroke and die from the immense anxiety I've been suffering and continue to suffer as a result of this stupid tooth, what should I do about this apparent nerve damage? I don't have any total numbness anywhere, and most of the sensations come and go, and the nerve is clearly still in some kind of working order, judging by the intermittent sharp jolts. So, should I just wait it out and see if the, ah, "paresthesia" symptoms gradually resolve? Should I run back to the dentist and seek out steroids? Should I see a regular doctor about this?
Honestly, I've been dealing with this tooth for two whole months, and it's made me break down into tears more times in those eight weeks than I've cried in the preceding four years combined. And I just really want this to be over. Completely over. I never want to have to worry about this stupid tooth, or its empty socket, ever again. But at the same time, I can't ignore a potentially serious problem.
So...any advice? Any at all?
So, I've spent the last two months agonizing over a tooth, and it seems that everything that could go wrong did go wrong, all the way up to what appears to be facial nerve damage.
Let me do a "quick" recap:
1) On August 1st, my lower left second molar, which had a very large, deep filling in it, broke, and the filling came out. I went to an emergency appointment at my dentist's office, as the nerve inside the tooth was practically exposed, but all she had time to do that day was...glue the broken part back to the tooth, filling included, as a stopgap measure.
2) A few weeks later, I went in for a regular appointment and had a core build-up and crown prep done, as the dentist said she didn't think the tooth needed a root canal. The temporary crown she gave me that day didn't fit quite right despite adjustments, and I spent the next four weeks in mild discomfort because I couldn't bite right on the tooth. But I wasn't in any real pain.
3) Finally, I got the permanent crown put on. And that was when things went from bad to worse. The tooth, which hadn't been sensitive at all while I had the temp on, suddenly got extremely sensitive to cold and to drilling--the dentist couldn't even adjust the occlusion without numbing me. Also, my gums around the crown got very sore. So my dentist then said that I needed to see an endodontist and discuss getting a root canal.
Interlude: By this point, I had been suffering from pain and/or discomfort in that tooth for almost two whole months, and I'd had several breakdowns involving copious amounts of crying because I was afraid 1) I had an infection/was going to get an infection and/or 2) I was going to end up bankrupt from all the money I had to spend fixing this tooth.
4) Reluctantly, I booked a consultation with the endodontist--only I didn't end up keeping the appointment. A few days after the final visit to my regular dentist, where she told me that I probably needed a root canal, the gum irritation and the occasional aching in the crowned tooth finally drove me over the edge. I called the oral surgeon who got my wisdom teeth out and asked if I could get an extraction done, but unfortunately, he was booked up a whole month in advance.
And here's where I made what seems to be a horrible misstep. I was so frustrated and anxious at this point that I found another local regular dentist who did extractions in office and booked an appointment...Obviously, you know where this is going.
5) I went to the appointment with the second dentist, who took one look at my tooth and immediately got angry--because it was obvious to him that my gums were inflamed because I was ALLERGIC to the freaking metal in the crown. I didn't even know that was a thing that could happen, and my other dentist never even warned me that could happen. She didn't offer me a choice of crown materials or anything. She just got me a porcelain on metal crown, and the metal contained nickel...which I am mildly allergic to. (So even if I had opted for the root canal, I still would have had to pay for a SECOND crown, because I was allergic to the original one.)
6) THAT right there pushed me over the edge. I was completely done with this freaking tooth, and I wasn't willing to spend thousands more dollars and weeks more of my time (most of it spent anxious to the point of tears) trying to save this stupid tooth. So I told the new dentist to extract the frigging thing.
Hoo boy, am I starting to regret that...
7) The dentist numbed me up, like usual, and I didn't notice anything amiss at that point. Then he got to the actual extraction, which turned out to be complicated, because there was so little tooth structure left that he couldn't get a good hold on the thing. It broke multiple times, and he ended up drilling it into pieces and digging the huge, curved root out of the socket with some triangular root-digging tool. Thankfully, I did not feel any of this, because I was numb.
Perhaps a little too numb...
8) Now we get to the crux of the issue. I'm a little over 84 hours post extraction, and over the last 24 hours, I've noticed some...odd things. For the first 48 hours or so, everything seemed pretty normal. The original numbness from the injection appeared to wear off, like usual. My jaw got swollen and stiff, like usual. The socket stopped bleeding, formed a clot, and then started forming granulation tissue, like usual. I've noticed that the extraction site appears to be closing up at a reasonable rate--it was a huge, gaping crater at first, due to the shape of mouth--and I don't seem to have developed dry socket.
So, what's the problem? Well, I've been having issues with weird numbness and tingling in my jaw and cheek, on the side where the molar was extracted. If I press down on the external area of my jaw right next to the extraction site, it feels the way it does when you're coming down from being numbed. It's not totally numb, and it's not quite tingly, but it's not quite normal.
Sometimes, the sensation spreads upward into my cheek or across my lips and chin. Sometimes, I get a weird sensation in my teeth and gums on the left side of my mouth. And best of all, sometimes, I get a sharp jolt of pain very deep inside my jaw that feels eerily similar the kind of jolt you get when the dentist accidentally jabs the needle directly into the nerve.
FINALLY, we get to my question. Assuming I don't have a stroke and die from the immense anxiety I've been suffering and continue to suffer as a result of this stupid tooth, what should I do about this apparent nerve damage? I don't have any total numbness anywhere, and most of the sensations come and go, and the nerve is clearly still in some kind of working order, judging by the intermittent sharp jolts. So, should I just wait it out and see if the, ah, "paresthesia" symptoms gradually resolve? Should I run back to the dentist and seek out steroids? Should I see a regular doctor about this?
Honestly, I've been dealing with this tooth for two whole months, and it's made me break down into tears more times in those eight weeks than I've cried in the preceding four years combined. And I just really want this to be over. Completely over. I never want to have to worry about this stupid tooth, or its empty socket, ever again. But at the same time, I can't ignore a potentially serious problem.
So...any advice? Any at all?
