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Root canal on both sides-Help!

  • Thread starter Getting Anxious
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Getting Anxious

Member
Joined
May 2, 2019
Messages
48
Location
New York
Hi-I am new here. I never had any fear of the dentist. I go every 6 months for cleaning and check-up. Long story short- I cracked tooth # 5 but no pain. My dentist put a temp filling in told me to chew mostly on the other side until I came back from vacation. He said it didn't need root canal. A month later #14 cracks, again no pain but I go in to have them worked on. He says no root canal needed on that one either. He does a crown prep on 14 and that's where it all began to go downhill. After the numbness wore off I was in terrible pain and couldn't bear to chew or even touch the tooth without awful pain. He said it needed time to "settle down" and when the permanent crown went on it would be better. Permanent crown 2 weeks later and pain is increasing so he puts it in with temp cement and I go to the endodontist who does first stage of root canal, says it was infected and "never would have healed on it's own". The crown goes back on with temp cement, antibiotics and another appointment in 3 weeks to finish treatment. Ten days later #5 acts up bad and he has to do first stage on that one. Now I have 2 open root canals on opposite sides, eating like a rabbit but probably chewing a bit more on #14 because it has the crown. The gum line on the crown was very tender from the beginning and got worse with chewing. When I went back to get the root canal finished, my endodontist wouldn't do it because I still had pain in the gum and a bit of stinging going on somewhere in the tooth. He decided to finish #5 that day so I could get it crowned and take the chewing pressure off of 14 so it could heal. He also gave me peridix because the gum was bleeding a bit.

It has been a week since he finished #5. I can chew on it fine with no pain but it still "stings" a bit every now and then. I have an appointment tomorrow with my dentist for a crown prep- I AM PETRIFIED! This is how it all started. It's been 7 weeks and I am in such a state of anxiety that I'm not sleeping well, losing weight and am getting obsessed with this not going away. I still have the other one to deal with too.

Is this very abnormal or am I just over-reacting ? I am usually a happy person. Any encouragement would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post but I have to get it out.
 
Hi there, sorry to read about your ordeal.. I can't tell anything about the dental part, but I would want to have a profound chat with your dentist about what is happening and why and what the right course of actions is if I were in your shoes. It might also be an idea to get a second opinion... I would also want to know how the crack happened and how to prevent future problems of this kind..

Your anxiety doesn't sound abnormal or like over-reacting to me. It sounds like your last dental visits went very differently to what your dentist was assuming. Of course you are worried about further problems and pain and feel less confident about getting treatment.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you to get some answers and for the teeth to settle very soon
 
Gettinganxious,

I agree with Enarete, You are not overreacting, I'd want to have a good chat with the dentist and maybe a second opinion and really get a good answer on what is going on before doing more work. What I would also concentrate on and see how they respond and answer is the anxiety part of things letting them know how anxious you are and how its affecting you. A good anxious friendly dentist should really know what to do with this in answering your questions dental and anxiety about it. This is a great place to get dental anxiety out :)


" I have an appointment tomorrow with my dentist for a crown prep- I AM PETRIFIED! This is how it all started. It's been 7 weeks and I am in such a state of anxiety that I'm not sleeping well, losing weight and am getting obsessed with this not going away. I still have the other one to deal with too.

Is this very abnormal or am I just over-reacting ? I am usually a happy person. Any encouragement would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post but I have to get it out.
 
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Thanks for the advice. I'm kind of upset with my dentist over the entire crown prep problem even though I've always been happy with him. I think he should have not put the permanent crown on while I was still having trouble but it's too late now. I'll talk to him tomorrow about going forward. My teeth cracked because of large fillings in then- I'm no spring chicken!
 
I completely understand how you feel, since I just went through the same thing. (Except I didn't get root canals).

The only thing I can add to what the others have said is that if you already had the root canal, the crown prep shouldn't aggravate the issue. The crown prep on the first one probably aggravated the nerve, which caused the irreversible pulpitis. That is what happened with me.
I can completely understand the fear on getting it done, though. I cancelled my 2nd crown prep for that reason, since it did not have a root canal.
Root canals can take time to settle, though, so hopefully yours will settle and everything will be fine.
 
I would get the root canal finished by the endodontist and sealed with filling material and then wait for it to settle for before doing the crown (if necessary) elsewhere. You don't have to do it straightaway that is just what is most profitable for your current general dentist. I think I would look to change dentist in your shoes given what happened also. Best wishes.
 
I just want this all to end. Every day for 7 weeks I go to sleep thinking maybe tomorrow it will all settle down but it goes on and on. It's hard to even think straight after awhile.
 
You are most definitely not over reacting. I'm sure many of us can understand the anxiety that comes when multiple procedures fail in succession. I also agree with other posters that I would seriously reconsider whether or not you want anymore work done by your current dentist. It seems that the endo is doing good work? Perhaps have the endo finish the root canals and then take a break until you feel secure with a dentist that can finish up with the crowns?
 
No real advice to share, just support and good wishes. I had my root canal recently in NYC with an endodontist I LOVED who was recommended as very skilled, so if that referral might be helpful to you, happy to send by PM. Good luck and hope everything works out well.
 
MountainMama-You were right about the crown prep not hurting after the root canal. I had the first part today which was a post and core and he did it without any numbing. I'm hoping this is a good sign that the root canal is successful. I am still a little sore and "stingy" at 1week post root canal -could be my anxiety and obsession with it all. I go back Next Tuesday to my endodontist for the completion of the other side (hopefully) which is still uncomfortable though not very painful. I appreciate everyone's suggestions about going forward and am taking it day by day to see how my healing progresses. I am trying so very hard to be optimistic but I am still having some bad times of anxiety.
 
MountainMama-You were right about the crown prep not hurting after the root canal. I had the first part today which was a post and core and he did it without any numbing. I'm hoping this is a good sign that the root canal is successful. I am still a little sore and "stingy" at 1week post root canal -could be my anxiety and obsession with it all. I go back Next Tuesday to my endodontist for the completion of the other side (hopefully) which is still uncomfortable though not very painful. I appreciate everyone's suggestions about going forward and am taking it day by day to see how my healing progresses. I am trying so very hard to be optimistic but I am still having some bad times of anxiety.

I am so glad it was painless! It sounds positive for success of the root canal as well. When my root canals failed, they were so tender that the dentist couldn't even touch the tooth without me about jumping out of the chair. Good luck on the 2nd part!
 
Ok so the post and core was 2 days ago and as I said, that went well. However, the next morning (yesterday) the "open" root canal on the other side really acted up. I took Motrin all day. It seems to have calmed down somewhat today. Could all the drilling from the post have caused some trauma on the other side that's still healing?
 
I am sorry to read this. I too have had what the dentist said was very successful and painless root canal. I went away feeling very positive but now am back to square one. I have a sore gum from the infection which manifested itself as a lump on the gum and I do not know how it can be got rid of If it is a gum infection then surely it should be lanced and drained and I asked the dentist if this could be done and he said no. Then he said once he had performed root canal successfully the lump would vanish. Well it has not vanished but I only had the root canal done today. He did find some puss still left inside the tooth and I said surely if that is the case then I would be in pain and he said not always. I am at a loss. The lump is slightly tender to touch which indicates to me that there is puss there. On the one hand I am thankful that he did what he described as very successful root canal but I just want to get this lump off my gum one way or another. Any ideas?
 
Well it has not vanished but I only had the root canal done today. He did find some puss still left inside the tooth and I said surely if that is the case then I would be in pain and he said not always. I am at a loss. The lump is slightly tender to touch which indicates to me that there is puss there. On the one hand I am thankful that he did what he described as very successful root canal but I just want to get this lump off my gum one way or another. Any ideas?

Wait a bit longer, if the RCT was successful the lump will resolve fairly quickly.
 
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