Root Canal Horror Story

[Vartan]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum, found it through a web search. Where to begin? Well...

I didn't take good care of my teeth as a kid, ate lots of candy and drank soda, and my molars are basically covered in silver fillings because of it (which I'm told I'm going to need to have replaced eventually because genius dentists thought it was a good idea to use mercury in them back then...but that's another story). I regret this a lot, but my parents never really taught me how to brush right.

Sometime about three years ago, I lost one of the fillings and didn't realize it. A few months went by and it really started to hurt. Turns out one of my molars was rotting from the inside. I went to a dentist at the urging of my family, without any sort of coverage, as a struggling unemployed college student. The dentist decided on the spot that I was going to need a root canal. I had come in expecting a check up, not that. What followed was a three hour torture session. The pain had me in tears, my mouth is really sensitive and they can never numb me enough to where I don't feel anything. And the rude dentist was all "I have ten year old girl patients who get this operation and don't cry". Yeah, I bet SHE'S never been the one in the chair. Sadist. Then at one point they just left me lying there with pins in my mouth staring at the ceiling in agony for more than a half hour as they took their lunch break or whatever it was that they were doing. Taking a break in the middle of giving me a root canal. Is that even legal? At long last after the procedure, I get the bill for over $4,000, to be paid 100 dollars a month. I felt like crying all over again. For an unemployed student this might as well be a million dollars.

So for about a year and a half I was able to make the payments, sometimes just barely, sometimes having to get charged a 30 dollar late fee for skipping a month. I graduated, looked for jobs, but no one wants to hire a young inexperienced person no matter what degree they have. They don't hire you for teaching positions unless you have like ten years experience, and how do you get that in the first place if no one hires you? And eventually, it came down to either pay the dental bill, or eat. I tried calling up the bill collectors and they don't care that I'm unemployed. They have absolutely no sympathy. I signed an iron-clad contract apparently, they don't care if I starve to death paying their bill (and what good are teeth then?). I haven't paid the bill in eight months now, racking up an enormous late fee. I've just been taking small freelance writing jobs to get by, applying for teaching positions and not hearing back for months on end, trying to get a book published but not being accepted by literary agents.

And to top things off, the tooth that had the root canal seems to be out of place. In the last few days I haven't been able to shut my mouth all the way or clench my teeth, it's just not fitting together right. And I absolutely loathe dentists. I don't want to go back there, have another torture session and be given another astronomical bill that I'll never be able to pay off. I'm in enough debt because of my student loans! I don't know what to do. I can't stand the thought of going through that again. The cost scares me even more than the pain and torment of it. I don't know how much lower I can sink at this point.

 

[carole]

Hi I have had a few rct's and I have never been left for any time whilst they were being done. I think the pins you referred to were small files that are used for shaping and cleaning of the canals. I don't know why they would leave them in the tooth as these are used by hand by the dentist.

I feel sorry for you that you suffered in this way at the dentist. I am from the UK and we have places we can put a complaint to in matters like yours. Your first move would be to get in touch with the practice manager and see if they can help with your problem.

It could be that your bite is out and that is why your teeth aren't meeting as they should. This is easy to correct and will take the dentist a couple of mins. I am having trouble to understand how long ago you had the rct, how long ago was it.

 

[comfortdentist]

Root canals should never be consistently painful. There are times when you might have moments of pain when the dentist has not be able to achieve profound anesthesia. This can quickly be stopped when the nerve is accessed. Then it is easy to get the tooth numb. In a likely worse case there are seconds of pain then a couple of moments of pain then it should be over. There are work around for the above but few dentists offer them.

I would expect a lot more treatment than just a root canal was done for 4,000. I am also in Florida and I have never heard of a fee that high for a root canal. I think the highest I know of is about 2,000.

You may want to get a second opinion.

As to the other complaints I certainly understand them as college costs have gone up much faster than medical care due to the fact they can charge you whatever and you can get government backed loans and as a young person you have no idea of the long term implications of debt. This is always the problem of not having to pay directly out of your pocket like when insurance pays or the government pays costs go out of control and crazy decisions are made.

 

[Vartan]

I got the root canal done in California, at about August 2013, I only recently moved to Florida because I just wasn't making it out there financially.

Anyway, I just hope any sort of procedure to straighten the tooth isn't too expensive, because sadly I just can't afford it.

 

[Deck2015]

I've also never heard of a RCT costing that much. It was a single tooth, right? Did you have a crown also placed and billed included in that $4k rate? Did you have work done on other teeth that is included in that cost? For $4k where I live, you can get two RCTs performed by a highly trained and well equipped specialist (molars, even!) and two custom made, top notch crowns for the teeth. I still can't wrap my brain around $4k for one root canal. Were you given GA for the procedure?

I am sorry for the pain and inconvenience about this tooth while you're unemployed. That's tough. You might give the clinic that treated the tooth a call and ask if they can see you again w/o charge as it's a follow up on a tooth they treated 36 months ago -- might work, might not. Personally, I wouldn't return to that provider considering the terrible experience you had there. If I were you, I'd highly recommend seeing a well respected Endodontist in your area (check Yelp, Google reviews for good recommendations - ask family/friends if they've had RCT at Specialist and if they recommend their providers) -- a good Endo will tell you based on exam and possibly xray if the tooth is re-infected and if re-treatment is recommended. Best to get an idea of the cost before you get upset expecting to have re-treatment. The cause for your current pain may be an easy fix, and it may not. But you can't tackle it if you don't know..

Best of luck.