S
SisterWho
Junior member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2025
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- US
Hi! I never feared dentists before but I’m super anxious now because all my recent treatments have just caused me more troubles, and I don’t know how to trust dentists anymore. I would greatly appreciate any helpful advice.
3 months ago, I had to get my #19 (lower molar) extracted because it cracked after a botched root canal treatment. I got a bone graft, too. Because the next molar, #18, was leaning on the one that got removed, the extraction hole basically goes underneath the #18. I had no issues with the extraction site healing for the first couple of months, although my bite is now really off and I’ve noticed that I’m clenching my teeth at night. A month ago, I started feeling kind of tingling inside the hole and saw a bony “pimple” inside the gum next to it. Unfortunately, around the same time I decided to be proactive on a loose filling on my #15 (upper molar, broken almost at gumline, no crown) and went to a general dentist to replace it. That was the most brutal dental appointment I had in my life in terms of how much force he used to place the filling. He told me that both my mouth and my tooth were “too small”, and that he had to somehow enter the tooth from the side instead of from top. He cut my cheek inside, too! Three days after appointment, I noticed that the tooth and the gum around it were becoming more and more sensitive to cold/hot, etc. I went back to the dentist, he put some desensitizer on the tooth and polished the filling a bit. This worked for approximately a week, but now the sensitivity is back. I also started feeling pain in my extraction site which is not exactly under the treated #15 but close to it. The oral surgeon looked at it and said that everything is fine and maybe the sensation is caused by #18 (which has old root canals and is currently positioned under 45 degree angle). Then, the pain started appearing randomly on my lower and upper jaw, I started feeling pressure and dull ache in my cheekbone which gets worse with cold weather and when I lay down. Then a muscle next to the cheekbone started twitching a bit (two short episodes so far). The general dentist says that he can’t do anything and wants me to see a neurologist for potential trigeminal neuralgia. I am reading that this can be TMJ issue as well. I’m terrified of both options, but I also suspect that my dentist just did a really poor job on that filling. I don’t know what to do. I want to find a different dentist but I’m not sure if the new one will be okay with correcting the previously botched job. Should I also look for a neurologist? If this is TMJ issue, who should deal with it, oral surgeon? I am so afraid to do anything that again can cause more harm.
3 months ago, I had to get my #19 (lower molar) extracted because it cracked after a botched root canal treatment. I got a bone graft, too. Because the next molar, #18, was leaning on the one that got removed, the extraction hole basically goes underneath the #18. I had no issues with the extraction site healing for the first couple of months, although my bite is now really off and I’ve noticed that I’m clenching my teeth at night. A month ago, I started feeling kind of tingling inside the hole and saw a bony “pimple” inside the gum next to it. Unfortunately, around the same time I decided to be proactive on a loose filling on my #15 (upper molar, broken almost at gumline, no crown) and went to a general dentist to replace it. That was the most brutal dental appointment I had in my life in terms of how much force he used to place the filling. He told me that both my mouth and my tooth were “too small”, and that he had to somehow enter the tooth from the side instead of from top. He cut my cheek inside, too! Three days after appointment, I noticed that the tooth and the gum around it were becoming more and more sensitive to cold/hot, etc. I went back to the dentist, he put some desensitizer on the tooth and polished the filling a bit. This worked for approximately a week, but now the sensitivity is back. I also started feeling pain in my extraction site which is not exactly under the treated #15 but close to it. The oral surgeon looked at it and said that everything is fine and maybe the sensation is caused by #18 (which has old root canals and is currently positioned under 45 degree angle). Then, the pain started appearing randomly on my lower and upper jaw, I started feeling pressure and dull ache in my cheekbone which gets worse with cold weather and when I lay down. Then a muscle next to the cheekbone started twitching a bit (two short episodes so far). The general dentist says that he can’t do anything and wants me to see a neurologist for potential trigeminal neuralgia. I am reading that this can be TMJ issue as well. I’m terrified of both options, but I also suspect that my dentist just did a really poor job on that filling. I don’t know what to do. I want to find a different dentist but I’m not sure if the new one will be okay with correcting the previously botched job. Should I also look for a neurologist? If this is TMJ issue, who should deal with it, oral surgeon? I am so afraid to do anything that again can cause more harm.
