Serious advice please regarding complicated RCT & retreatment

[jerseygirl2018]

Hi, this is my first post and I am relieved to find somewhere that may be able to offer me serious support and advice that I find I am lacking. I am exasperated, exhausted and depressed and really need help. My situation is as follows and I would be grateful for all responses.

I have had a dental phobia since a child, when I was held down in a dentist's chair and a gas mask forced over me to have a filling. It is something I never got over.

Fast forward over ten years and I had excruciating toothache in a top molar whilst at university and was left with no option than to go to the dentist (not my childhood one!). I was lucky a found a good one who performed a root canal, followed by a crown and all was good, despite literally shaking in the chair.

Fast forward another 20 years to Nov 2017 and I suddenly have terrible toothache in what feels like the root canal treated tooth. My now dentist (a lovely one) took x-rays and could see nothing obvious. I had one round of antibiotics (as I am prone to sinus infections which masquerade as toothache) but they did nothing. When the treated tooth was tapped, it was sensitive. I was sent to a specialist endodontist as my dentist is sadly only a generalist.

Many tests and many x-rays and much treatment later (and with huge debt to boot), I have now had root canal in the tooth in front and the tooth behind as I was told by the endodontist that both nerves were dying, and I have also had retreatment (successfully according to the expert) of the original root canal tooth. AND I AM STILL IN PAIN!!! My treatment is not yet complete as I still have one of the other teeth to be filled (and then somehow have to afford having all of them crowned) but I still feel like all the discomfort is coming from the original root canal treated tooth (which now has a temporary crown). There is no sign of infection, nothing looks bad on X-rays, the retreatment went well, yet it is still ailing me. Does anyone have any idea of the cause? It has been checked and rechecked for fractures and all looks fine. I was originally offered the option of an apicectomy as it was thought it may be better treated that way but in the end retreatment was preferred as the original crown looked a little dodgy.

Is my only option after so much cost and stress (I have literally cried after every appointment with the stress of the procedures) to have an extraction and all the cost and stress that that will bring? Should I get a second opinion from another endodontist even though this one seems very professional and has all the expertise and modern equipment? I just can't believe I have gone through all of this to still have an issue - when there is no nerve, no infection, no fracture and the retreatment went well.

if anyone can provide me any advice and a bit of sanity, I would be extremely grateful. Thank you.

 

[laceygirl78]

Hi Jerseygirl 2018.

I wish I could give you the answers you seek. All I can say is that I know how it feels. I have recently been through quite an ordeal myself with a root canal that is causing me pain. This root canal was preformed by an Endodontist. He even did a CT Scan to check his work and could find nothing wrong. I still have no answers and basically have been told to deal with it or get the tooth pulled. I am already about $3000 into this tooth so would really like to keep it

Keep us updated. Good luck!

 

[DrTeeth]

Hi,No treatment works 100%. Your original root treatment could have failed. Cases such as yours are very difficult to treat as if pain is coming from a general area, it can be difficult to find from which tooth the pain is coming.

I had a patient once who was crying in the chair in pain and I could not be sure which tooth was the problematic one. I had to start root treatment on 3 teeth, a mixture of upper and lower, to try to sort her out. The pain went, but unfortunately, she had to lose a tooth. She was very grateful and we remained friends.

Once this is over, make sure you go to a dentist every 6 months. You will never like it, but you will be able to keep your phobia under control and any decay can be treated before it gets to the stage of needing a root treatment or extraction.

Good luck,

DrTeeth

 

[carole]

Hi sometimes rct'd teeth just need time to settle down, which isn't what you want to hear I know. Sometimes it turns out that there is a really fine crack in the tooth that isn't seen until it is extracted. If you can stand it I would try to persist a bit longer with the teeth and see if they settle.

You can go and see as many dentists or specialists as you want to get a second, third and even forth opinion if you want. It may be worth a second opinion to see if they can see anything that may have been missed. It could even be that there is a bit of nerve left in one of the other teeth that is causing the problem, if this was the case it could be causing what is know as referred pain that you are feeling in the re-treated tooth.

All the best to you I hope you get out of pain soon and get an answer to your problem.

 

[jerseygirl2018]

Hi sometimes rct'd teeth just need time to settle down, which isn't what you want to hear I know. Sometimes it turns out that there is a really fine crack in the tooth that isn't seen until it is extracted. If you can stand it I would try to persist a bit longer with the teeth and see if they settle.

You can go and see as many dentists or specialists as you want to get a second, third and even forth opinion if you want. It may be worth a second opinion to see if they can see anything that may have been missed. It could even be that there is a bit of nerve left in one of the other teeth that is causing the problem, if this was the case it could be causing what is know as referred pain that you are feeling in the re-treated tooth.

All the best to you I hope you get out of pain soon and get an answer to your problem.

----
Thank you so much - you must have been reading my mind as I am sat here trawling through lots of old posts to other threads, seeking advice on whether to persist or give up and go for an extraction. The thing is, I don't know how people put up with constant pain and practically eating painkillers as a diet. It is so not working for me and, having had the pain for 3+ months, I don't think I can carry on with it much longer as it is making me into such a miserable and emotional person! But then, if there is a possibility of saving the tooth, maybe I should give it a little longer as it is only a few weeks since the retreatment.

My real concern above all others is they still are not 100% sure it is that tooth. The though of them extracting a tooth is a nightmare enough, but the thought it could be the wrong tooth is too much to bear. When they can't see anything wrong with it on the x-ray or during and after retreatment, would they really extract it just on the say so of me saying that was the source of the pain?

Regardless, I have decided that, after next week when the tooth in front is rc filled, I will seek another opinion. I think if it was any other part of my body and I was told I might have to have something so extreme done, I would seek another opinion, and I am only being put off by my phobia and having somebody else to get used to.

I would appreciate further posts from anyone else who is able to offer guidance, no matter how small. All opinions gratefully received.

 

[Tooth1]

No easy answer-

I had a dead tooth #15 upper left molar and only a cone beam ct scan from my ent of my teeth did they discover a small abcess at the tip of root. That tooth’s roots are up against sinus or in sinus- so I went to the dentists- went to an endodontist, dentists, and oral surgeons. They all said from their regular X-rays which I don’t know why they made me take considering I had the mother of ct scan which shows more then their lame X-rays- and because I had no tooth pain they were hesitant to do anything. I ended up doing a sinus procedure through my mouth which was the biggest mistake of my life- huge mistake. All because these so called dental professionals were too scared to do anything. So I thought it was sinus issue. Later in the year I got more opinions and now I find a different set of dental folks that say yes you need a root canal. It’s a far back tooth and I didn’t want a root canal. But got scared to pull tooth because roots are up in sinus and was told it would put a hole in it. So I went and got root canal- yikes- waste of $- my sinus cavity hurts so much after! Had a sinus CT scan which showed inflammation above the root of the tooth that was just root canaled. So really when u get a root canal they only clean out canals and I would have to have had root tip surgery as next step but I decided screw it be gone tooth! So I got it extracted yesterday. Still recovering. Was told good thing I got it out it was infected and they had to shave off infection from bone. Scary! Bottom line it’s your mouth. But I read stories about people having more than 1 root tip surgery to save the tooth. My next move is I have an old root canal that’s over 25 yrs old and it shows black on X-ray by root so it’s most likely infected and it is towards the front of my mouth so that stinks. I will have to get an implant or abridge,
I have 2 root canals total and would rather get fake teeth than House a mouth of infection. I know lots of people would disagree and lots of people are healthy with a ton of root canals but my immune system has been compromised so my body cannot fight these low grade infections in my mouth. It was scary to know that even after a root canal a month ago it had lots of infection in it. It can spread to neighboring teeth. And boogers! I just wasted money on a root canal for no reason
Good luck- whatever you do it’s your body your call.

 

[jerseygirl2018]

No easy answer-

I had a dead tooth #15 upper left molar and only a cone beam ct scan from my ent of my teeth did they discover a small abcess at the tip of root. That tooth’s roots are up against sinus or in sinus- so I went to the dentists- went to an endodontist, dentists, and oral surgeons. They all said from their regular X-rays which I don’t know why they made me take considering I had the mother of ct scan which shows more then their lame X-rays- and because I had no tooth pain they were hesitant to do anything. I ended up doing a sinus procedure through my mouth which was the biggest mistake of my life- huge mistake. All because these so called dental professionals were too scared to do anything. So I thought it was sinus issue. Later in the year I got more opinions and now I find a different set of dental folks that say yes you need a root canal. It’s a far back tooth and I didn’t want a root canal. But got scared to pull tooth because roots are up in sinus and was told it would put a hole in it. So I went and got root canal- yikes- waste of $- my sinus cavity hurts so much after! Had a sinus CT scan which showed inflammation above the root of the tooth that was just root canaled. So really when u get a root canal they only clean out canals and I would have to have had root tip surgery as next step but I decided screw it be gone tooth! So I got it extracted yesterday. Still recovering. Was told good thing I got it out it was infected and they had to shave off infection from bone. Scary! Bottom line it’s your mouth. But I read stories about people having more than 1 root tip surgery to save the tooth. My next move is I have an old root canal that’s over 25 yrs old and it shows black on X-ray by root so it’s most likely infected and it is towards the front of my mouth so that stinks. I will have to get an implant or abridge,
I have 2 root canals total and would rather get fake teeth than House a mouth of infection. I know lots of people would disagree and lots of people are healthy with a ton of root canals but my immune system has been compromised so my body cannot fight these low grade infections in my mouth. It was scary to know that even after a root canal a month ago it had lots of infection in it. It can spread to neighboring teeth. And boogers! I just wasted money on a root canal for no reason
Good luck- whatever you do it’s your body your call.

----

Thanks for your reply and I am sorry to hear you have had such an awful amount of trouble. However, it is reassuring to hear of other people's experiences as (lucky for them) none of my friends or family have had any serious teeth issues and all think I must be doing something wrong having so much treatment and not getting anywhere with it. I guess we are the unlucky ones. I have not had a cbct scan as the endo did not think it would reveal anything that would be of more help. It is so scary to hear how infection gets hold of teeth so quickly and after spending so much money & having so many treatments trying to clear them out. It is so depressing! I cannot believe that, at what I consider still a young age, I am facing having a tooth removed when there are no clear signs it is bad. But maybe it is the best option all round if it stops this wretched pain...