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Very saw jaw after Root canal

M

mallee57

Junior member
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
2
Hi I'm Mallee57,
I visited the dentist on 22nd October 2012 for a check up. Just prior to the check up part of my near back tooth on my bottom left broke off. During the dental visit I asked the dentist about the broken tooth if he is going to fill it or pull it out. He said NO to both questions and said the best option was root canal. I had never heard of "root canal" before in my life, so I just assumed that he being the Dentist knew best (silly me). So the procedure went on and it lasted maybe 15- 20 minutes or so during which time I opened my mouth relatively wide to assist the dentist during the procedure. I was given a few needles and there was a lot of drilling and grinding type noises but not much pain at all. So the job was done and I asked the dentist when I could eat and drink and he said in about 1 -2 hours or so, which was fine with me. I was numb for a few hours that day, but all seemed to be O.K. Now about 3 maybe 4 days later I noticed my Jaw on my left side was getting really painful and I was finding it very difficult to eat. I contacted the dental surgery and explained my situation and the dentist came to the phone and told me to see a doctor (G.P.) right away and get some antibiotics as there might be some infection, which I did and which I am nearly finished as I type this. I was given Amoxcyllin 250 mg which lasts for 6 and half days in total. Anyway I phoned the dentist again and told him the pain is still there after 3 days of antibiotics and I needed to see him. They made all these excuses like being fully booked etc..... I said I'm in heaps of pain, I can't eat properly and I need to see the Dentist, so they made me a special time and I had to drive for 4 hours (round trip) to get to the dentist as my regular dental place was closed for one week. I went into the dentist, he had a quick look around doing some tapping and scraping and said every thing looked fine and had looked at X-rays (which were X-rays prior to "Root Canal" procedure)there was no infection. I said then why is my jaw really saw and I can hardly eat. His answer was that I'm grinding my teeth due to stress and maybe at night as well and he gave a sheet with a couple of exercises to perform and if it didn't improve in a couple of weeks he would make up a special tooth thingy to put in my mouth to stop me grinding my teeth. I said well, I've never had this problem before, but (silly me) believed him. He did also say opening my mouth during the 'root canal' work and maybe the needles during the 'root canal' work may have contributed to some soreness. So I went home today from the Dentist none the wiser and still in awful pain. I am not very impressed, and I don't know what to do to stop this pain. I think the dentist is not telling me the truth and I know all this pain is related to the "Root Canal" work as I never had any of this pain before the "root Canal" work was done! I think the Dentist is to blame but he is making excuses so he doesn't get in trouble. Can anyone advise me about this and give some suggestions what to do?:redface:
 
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Hi Mallee57 :)
Sorry you are having such a problem after your root canal treatment:(
I know you had your check up on the 22nd of October but when did you have the root treatment? I only ask because I recently had a tooth root treated and my dentist told me to expect to be sore for about 2 weeks. True to his word I was sore for 2 weeks....the pain peaked on about day 3/4 and my regime of ibuprofen and paracetamol almost didn't cover it. By a week I still couldn't eat anything that wasn't mashed but by two weeks I was almost able to eat semi-soft things. Now it is fine - it was done in august.
I think you need to go back to the dentist who did the treatment - will they be open by now? The second dentist tried to help but as he didn't do the treatment he can only give an opinion.
It sounds like you don't really trust the first dentist? Did he explain why the tooth needed treated? perhaps if he had given you more information in the first place you may have trusted him more? Root treatment is a really good way of saving a tooth which cannot be filled in the normal way - lots of people on this forum have had multiple root canal work - to date I have had 2 - and expect more in the future (I'm a pessimist...).

It also might be an idea to post a question in the 'Ask a dentist' section although I suspect they will suggest you go back to the original dentist.
Best of luck with this Mallee57:clover:
Coolin
 
Hi Coolin,
Thanks for your reply to my thread about the root canal. The actual root canal was done on October 22nd. The tooth in question hard a broken piece on it which created a hole in top part of the tooth. I think it is tooth number 18 which is a molar on the bottom left. I asked the dentist before he suggested the root canal if i could have it filled and he said no, I then asked if it could be extracted and he said no because it would be hard for me to chew as I have a few other teeth missing. He then suggested a root canal and to be honest I had never heard of root canal before in my life, so I just thought it was a normal dental procedure and no big deal. I have changed my mind since then and since doing some research on the internet. I am still in pain now although probably slightly less severe but still in pain. It has now been 18 days since I had this root canal done. I have had continual mild to annoying headaches on my left side, I cannot chew very much on my left side as it hurts, and I cannot brush my teeth very hard on my left side,and I cannot yawn fully and open my mouth fully as it hurts. I have been in continual contact with the dental practice in question who happen to operate in two different locations. The practice I attended was closed last week so I had to make a special trip to the other location which was a 4 hour round trip for me by car and that was on Monday 5th November only after I continually contacted the practice and insisted I needed to be seen as I was in pain. When I arrived at the dentist they rushed me into the room and was seen by another dentist (not the actual dentist who did the root canal) he did a quick examination of me and a bit of scraping here and there (less than 2 minutes) and said there was no infection and said he looked at the x-ray (which was done prior to root canal) and said all was O.K. and then he said the most strangest thing which was the problem was from 'grinding my teeth'. What I thought I've never had this problem before the root canal was done so why now? He then said maybe because I had my mouth open during root canal procedure or maybe the needle may have caused some of the pain, gee I thought I have had needles many times with dentists before and had my mouth open many times before with dentists why now after this 'root canal' does it all seem to change? That was the end of the examination after paying him some money and another 4 hour trip home and still in pain now! I now have to go back to the original dentist next Monday 12th November at 9 am as I phoned them up last Friday and basically complained I was still in pain and I wanted to root canal tooth extracted. The receptionist has told me to turn up next Monday and said I might have to wait awhile and to talk to the dentist about it, in other words they will try sweet talk me to keeping the root canal. I have done some research into this root canal thing and lots of people have had very similar problems and apparently root canals can cause some mild to serious health problems which dentists don't like to discuss and why? because root canal procedure pockets the dentists big $$$$$ in comparison to having a tooth filled or extracted. Compare this here in Australia to have a tooth extracted is approx $250 and having a root canal is approx $1600 and then if the root canal is crowned which they normally are then another $1600. So why do you think the dentist I saw suggested a root canal? makes you wonder doesn't it? Hopefully I will get the darn thing out next Monday and put an end to all this unnecessary pain.
Cheers Mallee57 (Hopefully after next Monday it will be :) and not :cry:
 
Hi, Mallee
Just chiming in here.....
I had a root canal done in May, and I STILL have some pain due to it. It was a lower front tooth. I DO grind my teeth and my dentist had said that probably has complicated my recovery. Also, he discovered that my bite was off (when I came back for a check-up for the root canal) so that also had caused me to grind more and on the poor root canaled tooth.
Maybe your bite is off as well, and even though you don't normally grind your teeth, if the bite is off that might have something to do with it. It's worth asking your dentist about and it's an easy fix.......he would just take a little off the temporary crown to adjust your bite.
Maybe you could try a bite adjustment instead of getting the tooth extracted?? It's worth a try, and if it works, you keep your tooth. If it doesn't work, then maybe you have to have it extracted. I was almost at that point myself with the constant aching in my jaw.
Good :clover: and many :hug4:'s.
 
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...I had a root canal done in May, and I STILL have some pain due to it...
i was thinking that too, immediately after my root canal, i felt some pain, and the doc said i shouldn't, because the RCT was done, so i suggested it might be a phantom pain, and he said no too. he said it could be the tooth next to it. :o and seems geared to working on that. i freaked out silently. and said we'll see how it goes after this root canal tooth settles. (though it seems like that should have been his line)

so i am afraid to press down too hard on this tooth, don't want any complications. not an optimist too. i laughed when i read coolin writing a comment earlier that he/she is a pessimist when it comes to things like root canal. :ROFLMAO: aren't we all, in our head here? LOL.

Dear Mallee, i wonder if it was because you opened your mouth so wide to assist him that contributed to this ache now? i know my jaw creaks also when i open it sometimes and i was worried about it aggravating the situation when i had to have numerous go's at the dentist everytime. i mention it casually to the dentist so that he knows. but i don't think it registered much because i was emphasizing that i was scared more. :redface:
I hope your jaw will heal soon and you can eat well again. :friends:
 
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