Please help, after root canal treatment the pain is unbearable

[katief_day]

Hello,
This is my first time on this forum and i was so relieved and happy to find it! I've been scared of dentists since i can remember but have been braving it for some time now and usually with sucess until now. Basically the dentist advised a root canal after unbearable tooth pain and severe infection to my top left tooth (2 back from eye tooth), I had 2 weeks of strong antibiotics then i had a temporary filling with aintiseptic packed inside( which was fine), i then had my permanent filling applied and roots taken out of tooth etc. Since then(5 days ago) I have had horendous pain to bottom of the tooth and cannot eat as anything on the tooth is excrutiatingly painful. It even hurts to brush that tooth and i cannot close my teeth so they meet as it hurts so much. I am constantly on the strongest painkillers i can buy but nothing helps. I also grind my teeth in my sleep so get woken up with the pain. My tooth is not sensitive to hot or cold tho which is odd. Anyway this is getting me down as i have had probs now over a period of 3 months in total with this tooth. It has also prevented me enjoying my christmas as i couldnt even eat my turkey dinner I am really terrified of going back as i cant go through that awful treatment again(it took enough courage the first 2 times) and even more terrified of having a tooth out. Any advice on what it could be would be gratefully appreciated also my dentist never tells me what he is doing, he just does things and when i ask he says nothing, is that normal not to know? Thank you so much X

 

[bexr]

Hi! I can't offer any words of advice, but I can certainly sympathise ... here's my story...

3 months ago the cusp of one of my lower-right pre-molars crumbled when I was eating a Cadbury's Eclair toffee (for those of you who don't know these, they are not particularly sticky or hard to chew). I visited the dentist a few days later, and she took x-rays, examined my mouth, and said she could build it back up with filling. I said that surely something must have caused the cusp to crumble, to which she replied "no". (At this point I should have taken a 2nd opinion ... hindsight is such a wonderful thing).

So I booked an appointment for her to sort out the tooth, and when she was drilling away, she stopped and said - actually you need a root canal - so as I was already numb, she went ahead and carried out the first stage of the root canal without telling me what was involved.

3 days later my very back molar (2 teeth away from the RC) started killing me. Serious pain for days. I could slightly wiggle the tooth, so I thought - must be infected. I returned to my dentist and she said (without any consultation) that I had 2 options - RC or extraction. But... she couldn't do the RC as my tooth was right at the back and at an angle (pointing to the tongue slighty). She said she would refer me to a private endodontic specialist, but that it would cost £737!! So I opted for an extraction. So she gave me antibiotics and made an appointment to return.

I returned a week later and the pain was still awful, so I was sent away with another course of antibiotics. I then returned after another week and she tried to extract my tooth, but failed! She referred me to a private anesethetic dental clinic. I had to wait weeks for the appointment.

In the meantime she finished the lower right RC (she built up the tooth with 4 lots of white filling), and a week or so later did a filling on an upper right pre-molar. After another week, the UR filling was driving me crazy. I returned, and she decided to carry out a RC on it without any further consultation of more xrays! Well, since then I have been experiencing incredible discomfort and pressure on the surrounding teeth.

I finally had my infected molar out on 18th December. They were pretty annoyed that she had referred me, as they took the tooth out within seconds - wiggle-wiggle-wiggle, pull and out! They gave me a rubber thing to bite on so that my jaw wouldn't move (my own dentist did not offer this).

So here is where I find myself after 3 months...

- 4 courses of antibiotics
- One failed LR molar extraction, which after many painful weeks was later successful.
- One broken cusp, RC, filled - after over 3 weeks, light tapping on this tooth with my fingernail still sends shooting pains down it.
- One UR PM filling, then RC - after almost 2 weeks, still the same discomfort, pain and pressure that was there just after she did the original filling.

4 days ago, an ulcer appeared on my lower left gum, but I can't even tell I have one, as the pain and discomfort on the right side of my mouth is so terrible.

I telephoned her office on 23rd December, and she just didn't want to know. She kept telling me that all my pain was 'normal' even though she told me after finishing the 1st root canal that I could use it normally and 'that would be it'. She wouldn't let me come into the surgery to check me out!

I certainly don't want to annoy anyone here, but she is a Polish dentist, who trained in Hungary, and she is the only dentist in her dental practice.

I ended up telephoning another dental practice and seeing a dentist as an emergency. He took x-rays of the RCs and said he couldn't see anything bad, but that she used the 'manual' technique, which their practice doesn't use anymore! I have my first proper appointment with him on 7th Jan. He advised that if my pain and discomfort hasn't settled dramatically by then, then I will have to be referred or undergo private treatment (I'm currently a paying NHS patient) to investigate, as all should be well by then. If those RCs needs to be done again, it will cost me £1343!!

My advice to UK NHS patients - if you don't think something is right, then question it. If you are not happy, then seek a second opinion. I was told that you could not see another dentist during treatment, but after speaking to my PCT, I was told I could certainly pay the Band 1 fee (£16.50) and get a 2nd opinion. I just wish I'd walked straight out of her office after that 1st appointment and never gone back. Unfortunately, I am already £230 poorer (after paying for 4 courses of antibiotics and the RCs etc), so I will be so upset if she has done a bum job and I have to pay to correct her mistakes!

I have been miserable for 3 months now. I'm just incredibly lucky that I am a SAHM and that our daughter is at school, as I'm sure any employer would not take kindly to someone having 3 months off work for teeth!

The upside for me is that I've lst 2 stone in weight and have beautiful long nails (I used to bite them!).

Good luck Katie - consider finding another dentist, at least for a 2nd opinion to give you some reassurance.

 

[annie778]

Sorry to hear of your trauma & pain, particularly at this time of year.

You should go back to your dentist as soon as possible so that he can stop the pain. Based on what youve said, it may be the only way is to remove the tooth and have an implant or bridge. If that's suggested get a second opinion to see if there's something your original dentist has missed.

 

[katief_day]

Thank you for your replies, I'm so sorry you've had all these problems bexr, it gets you down so much! It really does sound like you've been treated by a completely incompetent dentist! You've had so many treatments and been so brave. Like yours my dentist is of foreign descent(not that im pointing out they're all bad) just the language barrier is a problem as they dont tell you what they are doing. I'm going to try and get in before i go to work tuesday although im terrified i'll have to have the tooth out then go to work afterwards in pain. It has been a nightmare working and having to have dental procedures, going to work with a lopsided face after anisthetic(i work in a shop). Work are not understanding at all and will not send me home even though they can see im in agony. Thanbks for your advice too annie778, i will see what the dentist has to say tuesday but am going to request to see the ehad of practice, if im not confident in what he says im going to go to another dentist. It seems like once you start having tooth troubles, it doesnt stop! At least i'll lose weight lol although i do miss my food .
Thank you X