Really upset with our dentist... (teeth, hurts, pain, infected)

[haggardhouseelf]

A week ago our dentist told my husband that he needed to have a filling replaced. My husband had absolutely no pain, no problems of any kind with his teeth or mouth at that time. We go every six months for routine cleanings. He uses a water pick every day, brushes twice a day. His teeth have for the most part been healthy. We were surprised that the filling was a problem, and my husband had no pain or issue.

But because the dentist said it needed to be done, so my husband had it done. Insurance covered most of it, but our part was close to $100 to replace the filling.

Well, yesterday he began having a horrible pain in his mouth in the area where they replaced the filling. Also, when he went to use the water pick like he always done it felt as if the water was entering into the inside of the tooth where they had replaced the filling.

So we went back to the dentist. We had to see a different dentist because our usual dentist was not available.

This new dentist discovered that when they redid the filling, they somehow cut or scraped too close to the "live" part of the tooth, and it has now become inflamed and infected. My husband is now on penicillin, and is seeing an endo-something or other (we were told they are a root canal specialist) on Monday for a root canal!! But he has to go through the whole weekend in pain and not being able to chew.

We are upset about this, because had he not had the filling replaced he would be fine right now. He didn't have any pain whatsoever.

Also, the dentist that replaced the filling should not have cut into the "live" part of the tooth!

Now we are going to be out around $1100 which is what our portion of the root canal and new crown comes to after our insurance pays for their portion. $1100!!! Not to mention the time my husband is having to take from work, and the weekend of being in pain and not being able to chew food regularly.

And we just spent $1500 on our poor cat at the beginning of this month. (Our cat suddenly developed a rare condition, and we eventually had to put him to sleep.) So it has been a really rough month.

I suppose I am just using this space to vent. But if anyone has any advice or wisdom to share regarding how to find a new better dentist, your experience with a root canal, the risks of root canals, anything at all.. please feel free to share.

[aquamarin]

Every time when you replace a filling or a part of a filling - it takes some live away from a tooth, because a Dentist has to drill and clean the area and unfortunately by doing that he has to drill a good (live)portion of a tooth tiny bit too. It is very common coming to Dentist without any pain just to replace lost filling and then, next day or so start filling pain and sensitivity. Teeth are living things Sometimes when they get disturbed they do not like it, I replaced a filling recently and my tooth became very sensitive for a couple days but then it went to normal.Hopefully antibiotics will help in your case and your husband will not need a root canal. Maybe it just got infrared due to filling....
Sorry about your cat.

[toofache32]

This exact misunderstanding unfortunately happens often when the patient fails to understand their problem, usually because the dentist did not fully explain the problem. The patients thinks nothing was wrong because it was not hurting. High blood pressure doesn't hurt either but it's causing lots of damage. The dentists finds a cavity close to the nerve of the tooth and tries to fix it before it starts hurting, since a root canal will be required once it starts hurting. It turns out the treatment is too late and the pain begins anyway, so a root canal is still needed. The fallacy with patients getting upset is that "if it didn't hurt then nothing was wrong."

As an alternative way to look at this, a routine visit to the cardiologist reveals blocked arteries around the heart. There is an impending heart attack but the patient thinks they are fine since nothing hurts. A stent is placed in the arteries and the patient has a heart attack regardless because the problem was not discovered in time.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Fillings crack, separate or new decay develops and they need to be replaced. It isn't unusual when this is done that it exposes the need for further work. No disrespect, but I see no issue here at all.

[echo99]

I am not sure what the dentist saw, but you have to realize that the dentist is holding a drill that spins anywhere from 250,000 rpms to 400,000 rpms and he/she is holding it with their hand over a very tiny tooth. Think of a riobi drill. Could you be that precise? It would be better if they hand scraped the decay so they wouldn't damage the tooth. Alot of dentists get bored and tries to do something against some internal clock to make things more exiting. "I think I can drill that tooth in less than 2 minutes."

My husband was a victim of a dentist that overground the tooth resulting in a root canal. The tooth can also get overheated if there isn't enough water cooling the drilling that is going on. Another person in the waiting room was talking about his 18 yr old son who needed a root canal after the dentist was going after a filling. What are the odds? An older dentist told us that he always takes the decay out manually because in that way he does not cause any other damage to the tooth.


Anyway the above is just my opinion. I wish your husband luck.