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Deleted member 18662
Former Member
Naturally, I'm here because of a problem with the dentist. I've done the best I could to take care of my teeth; brushing 3 times a day, flossing twice a day. I don't drink or smoke or take drugs, not even prescription. And I very rarely eat sweets. Yet, all my back teeth have fillings, and I've lost 5 teeth over the years. When one of my back teeth on my lower jaw began hurting, I was determined not to lose another tooth, so I saved my money and went to have it looked at. They said I needed a crown. So, I got a crown. Dr. Lobono left the roots in, and I didn't question him, but I nearly hit the ceiling as he rinsed it out before putting in the temporary crown. Now, certain family members and cousins have had crowns, and they all told me that a root canal was performed before the crown was put in. When I called the office about it, they gave a reasonable explanation about the roots needing to remain there. Did my own research, and found that most dentists operated the same. Well, after the crown was cemented in, it hurt to chew, and I made two visits (free of charge) so Dr. Lobono could grind it down, and the tooth above it. Helped a little, but he said it looked like I needed a root canal. Had to save up money again. I never want to go through that again! The guy is really nice, and I like him, but when he gave me that third shot, "to numb me real good," I felt something flow down the right side of my neck, and all the way down my arm to the fingertips. I thought, wow, that's weird. It didn't hurt, or jolt, but something streamed down my arm from the point where he inserted the needle. (I recall, when he prepared me for the crown on the previous month, that he bent the needle on me, and I laughed about it.) Well, I seemed to be okay, it's just that the hinges of my jaw hurt so bad, cos he inserted some sort of device to keep my mouth open. A couple days after the root canal, I noticed an odd sensation at the area between my thumb and index finger, kinda like when you bump your elbow and it feels like an electrical shock. It came and went, and I told my sis, and said it was "getting better." Then, I began experiencing some pain in my arm, from the elbow down to my hand. Today, 7/27/2015, it's been twenty days since the root canal, and now, my thumb, index and 2nd finger hurts, and it hurts to do things like grasp a door knob, open a jar lid, pull up my pants, etc. Every once in a while, there's a twinge of pain at the spot where the needle was inserted, but nothing like what I'm feeling in my hand and arm. I've searched the net, and found plenty of info about lingual nerve damage from dentists needles, but nothing like I'm experiencing. Should I tell Dr. Lobono? What can he do, exactly? I don't think there's any prescription he could write to correct this. Another web site said to go to an oral surgeon. I'm retired, and get treated at the VA. Should I tell my Dr? From what I've read so far, there isn't any viable treatment, or reliable facts about the number of people who've experienced this. What are my options? Wait it out? I sure don't want surgery. I only trust the VA so far. And now, I have zero trust in dentists. Apparently, they don't study the nerves in the face, or take lessons in administering shots. Over the years, there were dentists who actually rotated the needle in my jaw. They said they wanted to "get it in there good." Yes, I know, they were referring to the numbing medication. Stupid me, I trusted them, and now I've got this happening. What do I do about any future dental visits? Am I to decline the needle altogether? I remember when dentists didn't use anything, and it hurt like the dickens. Unless someone can give wise advice, I've decided to mention it at my next Dr. appointment, and go from there. Hopefully, there will be healing and/or improvement. Right now, I'm praying. According to other web reports, the nerves healed after six months, although some people suffered for a couple years. Of course, I had to be different; so far, my case appears to be unique.
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