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Should my RC still have shooting pains when tapped after 4 weeks?

B

bexr

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
22
I have my lower right premolar RC a while ago. The final stage of the treatment was carried out 4 weeks ago (with 9 weeks between that and the 1st stage due to a problem with another tooth that appeared after the 1st stage RC).

A couple of days after the RC was completed, everytime I accidentally knocked my tooth shooting pains sear through it. I was told it would go away? It's now been 4 weeks since, and if I lightly tap the tooth with my fingernail, pain shoot through it. Unfortunately, the tooth started aching from this morning too.

I had an x-ray of the tooth done 2 weeks ago (just before xmas) and the dentist told me it look okay - no infection.

I have read that if the white filling isn't set enough it can cause pain?

Any answers or advice would be so appreciated - it's driving me insane at the moment!!!

Thanks in advance.
 
It doesn't sound as though the RC has been successful unfortunately.

Under cured white fillings won't cause symptoms on root treated teeth I'm afraid. It's hard to say more without seeing some x-rays.
 
Thanks for your reply!

The tooth in question had a broken cusp (about 50% crumbled off), was then RC-ed. The dentist didn't fit a crown, but built it up with 4 separate lots of white filling (filled it, then did the light thing machine, more filling, more light, etc.!!).

I'm wondering whether she should have put a crown on???? A know you can't see any x-rays, but do you think this might be the cause of my pain??

Thanks!
 
Only a dentist can answer that bexr, but I think there is some school of thought that states a rct tooth is stronger with a crown. It's probably one of those areas dental professionals have different approaches & probably all dependent on circumstances. I didn't have a choice as my teeth were crowned prior to needing root treatment, but your dentist may have been trying this to see if he/she can save as much natural tooth as possible before having to resort to a crown.
 
Well, the pain in this RC-ed tooth is getting worse and worse by the hour. It was aching yesterday (it's always had shooting pains when touched since it was completed), really hurt when I tried to ever-so-lightly brush it last night, and then I woke up this morning with it throbbing. Painkillers aren't helping.

I am so upset right now. This tooth started treatment back in October. I feel so angry with myself for not going to a different dentist from the outset. When I went to see my dentist and showed her my broken tooth in Oct, she said she could just build it back up. I asked her if there was an infection - no, she replied! I said but surely a tooth doesn't just crumble without any trauma? She took x-rays, and said nothing was there. It was only when I went back a week later to have the tooth "built back up" that in the middle of drilling she told me I would need a RC, so completed the 1st phase. 3 days later, my lower-right 2nd molar started killing me - this did not go away for 2 weeks, and so she said it was probably infected and I could have it out or RC-ed. I opted to have it out, and then she couldn't get it out. I had to wait a couple of months before having it out somewhere else, and then being told that I had severe bone decay under the tooth - something she never picked up on or told me about! I had to wait 9 weeks between the 1st and 2nd stage of my RC treatment because of my molar and the failed extraction (the RC-ed tooth is 2 away from the molar).

Can you complain about dental treatment? I had all this done under the NHS, and along with another RC she did, and paying for my extraction separately, plus the anitbiotics, I have spent £230 on these 3 teeth. The extracted tooth is healing fine now. But there is clearly something wrong with one of the RC-ed teeth, and unfortunately the other one is starting to hurt now too!

I am seeing a different dentist tomorrow, and depending on the x-rays, the next course of action will be decided. I know that I will have to be referred to the Endodontic Specialist, and re-root canal treatment costs £600 per tooth! I really can't afford this at all!

What do I do? Can I claim the money back from my original dentist because her treatment failed? Do I speak to my local Healthcare Trust about this?

Money aside, I have been dealing with this for over 3 months now, and I just feel so depressed and miserable. It's affecting my life, relationship and work (which I don't get paid for if I don't work!).

I didn't have ANY pain in my mouth before going to this dentist in October. I wish I could turn the clock back...

:cry:
 
Hi Bexr, gosh I really can empathise with you on this one. It sounds like you have been through the mill, paid out a lot of money and you are still in pain :cry:

I am sure you can complain about an NHS dentist, probably even more so than a private one as surely they have to work to a certain standard to be employed by the state, least one would hope so.

I too had a bad dentist, although she was private. She was in fact a very nice dentist but she did a root canal for me which was never a success and over the years I've had so many gum boils that I have lost count and each time she just said it was because 2 of the 3 nerves had calcified, when in fact they hadn't, they were just hard to find.

I have also had a tooth just crumble out of nowhere. It already had a filling in it and one day the whole side of the tooth just crumbled away and the dentist built it back up and touch wood it's been fine ever since, so I'm not really sure why a tooth does that either.

You are obviously in a lot of pain still and the fact that pain killers aren't helping at all might mean you should go and see a dentist, if not your own just find another one or phone your PCT and tell them what has happened and see if there is something they can suggest.

There are days when I quite honestly just want to have all my upper teeth pulled as I am so fed up of going back and forth to the dentist and taking one step forward and two steps back. So far I have paid out £600 and am only a fraction through my treatment plan :o

I really hope you can sort it out, I hate the stupid NHS system here :grouphug:
 
Yes nhs work is easier to complain about than private because they have a formal complaints procedure. But I think in either case you can also complain to the general dental council these days if you think the dentist has been negligent. It may be very time consuming trying to get your money back though. Trying to obtain redress from a private practice generally means going to court. I assume either way you can sue through small claims, but not sure how much that costs now. It's worth complaining if you discover the dentist has been negligent because it may also help others in the future.
 
So I saw my 'new' dentist yesterday. He said that I should not be experiencing shooting pains in the RC-ed tooth, esp 4 weeks after the work was completed.

He gave me 3 options:

1. Extract the tooth and then have an implant, denture or bridge
2. Undergo re-treatment of the RC with him privately at a cost of £350.
3. Be referred to an endodontic specialist and have a re-treatment of the RC, which would cost £620.

I really want to keep this tooth, so I opted for option 2.

I am a bit scared now, as I do not know him (although I have been given many recommendations about the practice he works for, which is the local leading implant centre). I'm wondering whether I should have been referred straight to the endodontic specialist? Co-incidentally, the endodontic specialist used to be my private dentist 12 years ago before he set up his endodontic practice!! He is a fantastic dentist, and I would have no worries about going to him at all.

However, I've already paid out £230 on having 1 tooth extracted and 2 RC-ed. One RC has quite clearly failed, and I am pretty sure the other one is failing too.

This is why I opted to go with my new dentist, as it's almost half the cost. I did say to him that I want to be pain free, but I don't want to pay anymore than I have to, i.e. I don't want him to do the retreatment, only to end up being referred to the endodontic specialist, and end up paying £1000 for one tooth - money which I actually don't have!!

I have another question about whether I have an infection which needs antibiotics...

I have have 1 upper right and 1 lower right RCs (both pre-molars) and one lower right 2nd molar extraction. The molar was infected, and was hurting for a couple of months. I had 2 courses of amoxicillyn and then 2 courses of metronizadole. The last course of antibiotics was finished just before I had my tooth extracted on 18th December. For the 2 months prior to the extraction, I had a numb feeling on the outer part of my lower right gum. The best way I can describe it is the very last bit of numbness to go when you've had an anesethic. My dentist and myself put it down to the infection. However, my tooth has been out for 3 weeks now, and the 2 RC finished 3 and 4 weeks ago. I am sat here with this numb tingling feeling (although it's not actually numb) on the outside of both my lower right and upper right gum. Does this sound like an infection?

It's driving me crazy! I thought it would go after my treatment - but no!

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Does it sound like I need a nother course of antibiotics? As if I do, I will ring an emergency dentist tomorrow and get a prescription. I'm really desperate, so please help!!
 
No it doesn't sound like an infection. I can't see what difference antibiotics would make and I suggest that you discuss it with your new dentist. Whatever it is, it can wait for a couple of weeks.
 
Thanks Gordon.

Does anyone have any ideas about what could cause this numb/tingling feeling in my gums without any actual numbness?

Thanks
 
Hi

I've also been experiencing a similar feeling post extraction. My dentist told me it's all the nerves/ jaw etc settling down. I also get quite saw gums periodically If it gets really bothersome I take a painkiller and it usually disappears.

Cheers

Helgarr
 
Thanks Helgarr!

My soreness and numb/tingly feeling is very slight when I wake up, then increases throughout the day, to being unbearable by 6pm, when I have to apply anbesol to actually numb the area or I can't function.

Can peridontal disease cause this? I know that Gordon said it doesn't sound like an infection, but I'm wondering if eating throughout the day flares it up (even though I don't chew on that side of my mouth).

In a routine NHS check-up (without x-rays), would a dentist be able to detect peridontal disease (I'm assuming he would), but more importantly would he be obliged to tell the patient? i.e. does the diagnosis of peridontal disease need some input from the patient before the dentist looks for it?

Thanks
 
Yes, you can diagnose periodontal disease without x-rays and you certainly would tell the patient about it. It's part of every standard examination, at least it should be!
 
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