Side of root canal filled tooth has sheered off!

[Mercedes]

I've been going to the dentist for over 6mths now, having root canals and a partial plate redone. This morning when I brushed my teeth the whole side of one of my big molars that has a root canal filling in it just sheered off

I phoned the dentist but as it's a Saturday there was just an emergency number to ring, which turned out to be NHS Direct who weren't really any help at all.

I suffer very badly with agoraphobia and it's been so difficult going to the dentist and I had really hoped that all the hard bit was behind me now as I find my anxiety levels really shoot up once the nights get lighter and the weather warms up.

Has anyone else had this happen or have any advice as to what I can do

 

[RP]

Hi Mercedes,

Root canaled teeth are usually brittle, so having one break is not unusal if a crown wasn't placed on it right away. The dentist will most likely now need to put a crown on it. Since the tooth has no feeling, this isn't painful. Your gum maybe sore for a few days. Usually they sahpe the tooth first and put a temporary on, maybe take impressions and then have a permanent made- you go back a few weeks later and they cement that one on. If you wait or don't go, the chances are pretty good the tooth will keep breaking over time and you'll lose it.

rp

 

[biffo1963]

Yes, this happened to me too - I had a root-filled incisor that broke off leaving just the root. My dentist gave replaced it with a crown on a post; that lasted me for a year or so and then the post broke ! So now I've got an extra tooth on my denture instead.


John

 

[Mercedes]

Thank you both for your replies, I guess I am just fed up of all these dental appointments that I've had over the last 6mths and now will have to have more work done that I had hoped I could put off till the Autumn. This is a tooth I don't want to lose so I will have to push myself to go next week if I can get an appointment for then

 

[Mercedes]

Well I got myself an emergency appointment today and I had such an awful time actually getting to the surgery and feel quite disappointed with myself.

You would think after going to the dentist regularly for 6mths and having some appointments that were nearly an hour and a half long that nothing would phase me.

However I find it hard getting out in the middle of the day and the surgery was quite busy and I had to wait and it all got too much for me and I just started to cry and felt such an idiot. Even when I got into the surgery I cried again and felt even more stupid

I had the broken tooth built up and was told I will need the crown doing at some point, not sure when yet as I am still having appointments for my metal partial bridge which is being remade.

One thing that really upset me about all this problem of being a nervous patient with the additional problem of having agoraphobia is the lack of understanding. My partner ended up getting into an argument with the receptionist as I had been promised months ago that if I ever found it too hard to get to the surgery once the evenings started getting lighter that they would ensure someone would stay behind and see me. Now I am told I should never have been given that promise and I do feel very let down as at the back of my mind I was always relying on them being there for me.

I know I should feel pleased with myself for sitting through a 30min appointment and not panicking but I just feel very down and very exhausted from it all

 

[bumblebee]

Hello

Sorry to hear that you had a bit of a trauma, like you say, you did do well to get the treatment, but it got overshadowed by everything else.

Can you get any treatment for your agrophobia? This could help both you and the dentist. From our point of view, we don't know a lot about dealing with phobias, and we probably only get better at dealing with dental phobias as it is so common. I definitely wouldn't know the ins and outs of agrophobia, and did not know that daylight had a bearing on it. Try speaking to someone at your PCT to see if they know of a suitable dentist who deals with dental phobia, or indeed someone that opens late at night?

Or just see the doctor and explain the impact it is having on your dental health... sure you have done that already - sorry, probably going over old ground here.

Bee (dentist)

 

[Mercedes]

Hi Bee and thank you for your reply. I had explained my agoraphobia to my dentist when I started my treatment last October and stressed that I really needed to get the treatment finished by the Spring and at the time they seemed confident that they would be able to finish it by then. As it's now April and I still haven't had my crowns done you can tell that things haven't worked out as planned, but I don't blame the dentist for that, it's just how things have worked out really.

To be honest I have pretty much given up hope of ever getting over my agoraphobia, which I know sounds very defeatist. However I've had it now for nearly 40yrs and despite having every treatment in the book, I never seem to respond to any treatment. It's a very difficult phobia to describe to people as each sufferer seems to experience different triggers and although many find it easier to do things when it's dark it's not a given that all agoraphobics are the same. I would say the most basic definition of agoraphobia is 'fear of being away from a safe zone' and of course when you are at the dentist and feel you can't just get up and leave it does make you feel very anxious and trapped

 

[Mercedes]

Just a quick update on my post. I managed to get back to the dentist just over 2wks ago to have two temporary crowns done. That took an hour and a quarter and wasn't too bad all things considered.

Yesterday I had the permanent crowns done, which seemed to take ages. I had expected to just have the temporary ones whipped out and the permanent ones cemented in. However the dentist numbed the tooth that still has it's nerve and then had to drill away at the temporary crown as it didn't seem to want to come off.

I don't know why but today I seem to have a fair bit of pain all around both crowns. The dentist did have a lot of trouble getting my partial plate to fit around the new crowns, which really I don't think should have happened considering I had plenty of impressions done at my last appointment.

I am hoping the pain is temporary, would hate to have to go back again so soon after getting them done