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When should I give up on the tooth?

M

MountainMama

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
2,593
My front top incisor had a root canal on October 10. It had an abscess at the time, and I was on antibiotics a week prior to the root canal. The tooth had a childhood trauma and had an open apex.

The dentist did a great job, and the x rays show healing.

However it has been more than 2 months and I still have pain. There is always a general achiness, a feeling of pressure (no swelling), and the tooth cannot have any pressure on it. I tried a nightguard, at the dentist's suggestion, but it made my tooth (and the one next to it) hurt worse.

Just talking for more than 10 minutes makes my mouth hurt. I can't have a chat with a friend. It hurts to say words with "f" or "th" in them, and my speech is impacted.

When do I give up? I already had one failed root canal, on a molar, with perfect x rays and no reason for failure. I really don't want to lose a front tooth, but my quality of life is quite poor right now, as I am unable to carry on a conversation, kiss my husband or children, and have low grade pain constantly.

Dentist says next step is apico. I already went that route with the other tooth, and it failed. Can I just refuse and have the tooth extracted? When do I give up on the root canal? It doesn't seem to be improving at all.
 
You can of course refuse apicectomy and request extraction. At the end of the day, it's your decision and your body. Sometimes as dentists we get a bit hung up on the tooth and not the person who belongs to it :)
 
You can of course refuse apicectomy and request extraction. At the end of the day, it's your decision and your body. Sometimes as dentists we get a bit hung up on the tooth and not the person who belongs to it :)

That makes sense. Your job as a dentist is to save the tooth. I woke up this morning with the gums on the roof of my mouth, behind the front tooth, super tender. It hurts to swallow, because my tongue pushes against the roof of my mouth. There is no visible swelling, but I didn't have visible swelling with the original abscess. It feels worse than when it was abscessed right now. My nose hurts, and moving my lip hurts.

I don't know why my body keeps rejecting root canals.
 
Hi,

First of all, a good diagnose is needed. If the X rays show healing (over a course of time) maybe the reason for the pain is not to be fixed with epicectomy. I would suggest a second opinion.
 
Hi,

First of all, a good diagnose is needed. If the X rays show healing (over a course of time) maybe the reason for the pain is not to be fixed with epicectomy. I would suggest a second opinion.

I am thinking of requesting a referral to the endodontist to get a cone beam scan. She did my root canal on the molar (and apico and retreat),and is considered one of the best in the area. She was baffled as to why that root canal didn't work as x rays showed healing as well. It also had no cracks when extracted. I know she would not jump to an apico right away, based on my last experience.

I just seem to be an anomoly in the dental world.
 
I am going back to the dentist on Wednesday. If the x rays still show nothing (pain has increased and I feel pressure around the tooth), I am going to ask about the cone beam scan. I have to do something. I have taken a break from work (which I can't afford), as I can't talk for very long without pain, and my speech sounds off.
 
This sounds so awful, MountainMama, I do not even know what to write.. just keeping my fingers crossed for things to get better for you soon. I can't even imagine how frustrating it must be to be in constant pain and dealing with so many dental issues like you had to recently. Hold on and keep us posted, sending well wishes and prayers :XXLhug:
 
This sounds so awful, MountainMama, I do not even know what to write.. just keeping my fingers crossed for things to get better for you soon. I can't even imagine how frustrating it must be to be in constant pain and dealing with so many dental issues like you had to recently. Hold on and keep us posted, sending well wishes and prayers :XXLhug:
Thank you. This has been a trial. I have always had good teeth, although lots of issues with crowding. So this year has been a trial. I broke down and took a tramadol left over from my extraction. There is a stabbing pain behind my nose, above the tooth. Ugh.
 
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