Dentist Messed Up His Root Canal
I was in a car accident which led to some medical problems, including a concussion. The part relating to my question today is with my two fractured front teeth. My dentist said it would be best to wait a couple of weeks before doing any work. By the second week, my tooth 8 starting turning dark. I went in to see the dentist. There was no pain at that time and he only felt dried blood. He didn’t feel any treatment was necessary except to fit the fractured teeth for temp crowns. The permanent ones came in three weeks later. A couple of months later I ended up in severe pain. My dentist started an emergency root canal treatment and gave me five days worth of amoxicillin. I had some relief of pain the next day. But then it returned. The root canal was completed a week later, even though the pain was still there. Two weeks later when I was still in pain, I went back in. He saw no reason for the pain but then thought maybe the other injured tooth needed a root canal treatment so he did that. I’m still in pain and do not know what to do. Help.
Sam
Dear Sam,
I am so sorry that you’ve been through all of that. I am going to suggest that you find a different dentist. Preferably a dentist who cares and who understands how to treat a tooth infection, which is sort of a basic when it comes to dental care. Here are some of the things that he did wrong:
First, as soon as the tooth had started to discolor, it was clear that it was in need of a root canal treatment. Second, when when he felt dried blood in the tooth, that was another clear sign. If he’d taken care of it then, it would have been easy. Clear out the dead tissue and fill everything up and close it. Yet, he waited until you were in terrible pain and needed urgent dental care.
Third, when he did do the root canal treatment he went about it completely wrong. Amoxicillin would not be my first choice for an infected tooth, but that isn’t the real problem here. He only gave you enough for five days, but didn’t complete the treatment until after that. Fourth, he closed it up while you were still in pain. That is a clear sign the tooth is still infected. What he should have done is give you enough antibiotic to last until after the treatment is done. If there was any pain he needed to give you a different antibiotic to make sure everything is good to go before he sealed things up. Finally, when you were still in pain, he was unsure why and just decided to root canal a different tooth. Really? That makes no sense.
Here’s what I want you to do. Call a root canal specialist (an endodontist) and tell them everything you told me. They should be able to get you in for an emergency appointment. If they can’t they should give you some strong antibiotics to hold you over until treatment is completed. If the pain returns at all, let them know.
This blog is brought to you by a careful dentist in Moline, Dr. Thomas Goebel.
Ordering Dental Implant Parts Online
I have four snap on dental implants. I periodically need to replace the male retention caps. But, my dentist charges me $25 for each one. I’m on a very tight budget and the current economy has it to where I cannot even pay all my utilities without help. I have looked online and the price is much cheaper. You can get four of them for $20. The problem is that to order them you have to be a dentist. Is there any other way to get them at that lower cost than by being a dentist? I’m really struggling.
Dennis
Dear Dennis,
I know a few ways that you can go about getting these more affordably. First, I would start by just explaining to your dentist the financial situation. While dentists do need to charge extra for things in order to cover their overhead, such as the lease on their offices, staff salaries, etc., the percentage he would make on this is so small that I can’t imagine that he would not be willing to work with you.
If for some reason your dentist is not willing to cooperate with you on that, there are still a couple of options for you. First, you could call around to some other dental offices and talk to their staff. Most staff who work for dentists are compassionate people. It’s usually the staff that do the ordering for the dentist anyway.
If both of those things fail, then I have another option for you. I see on eBay where you can purchase dental implant parts, including the retention caps you need for the price you found online. These are sellers that do not require you to provide your dental credentials. The only downside to this is that you need to know what kind to get, such as the resistance. You would also need to know how to place them in.
By the way, if your dentist is not willing to work with you on this, I would say that you are not with the best dentist for your situation. There are a lot of dentists out there and you should look for one that works for you.
This blog is brought to you by Moline Dentist Dr. Thomas Goebel.
Click here to learn more about affordable dental implants.