Re: Root canal - follow up to my prior post(s)

On Apr 11, 3:39 pm, Newbie <n...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On 11 Apr 2007 12:16:39 -0700, "John" <allen...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I had my last of 5 RC sessions on a single tooth two weeks ago. It
was done on a lower 2nd premolar that had been painful off and on for
2 months prior, and that had one filling that was just replaced, but
the replacement filling didn't help any (after waiting a month to find
out). The endodontist charged me $1300 and said the outcome might not
be good because of the tooth having two intertwined canals. I was in
the chair with my mouth open for at least 4.5 hours.

Seems like a long time and many sessions to me.
Must have been a very difficult one.



At the end of
it, the guy finished it off with a permanent core filling topped by a
temp filling. He said a post would not be needed, but to go back to
my dentist in 3 - 4 weeks for a crown. Ultimately he told me he was
pleased with the result which I was glad to hear.

So, now it is two weeks later and I still have a fair amount of
discomfort and mild pain, both when chewing on that side - though
carefully - and throughout the day and night. Basically, it never
feels pain free. The first week it seemed to be gradually improving,
but then got worse.

My question is how long is reasonable to expect to be in some pain? I
see there have been lots of posts about root canals lately, and I've
read that it might be a bit painful for several weeks. At what point
do I declare this RC a failure?

Certainly not yet ! Perhaps get your dentist or endodontist
to relieve the occlusion (bite).

Although there doesn't seem to be any
outward sign of an infection, would it be worth taking antibiotics to
kill a possible low grade infection?

Yes, that is often helpful. Residual infection



Finally, can I assume that I would be foolish to put a crown on a
still painful tooth?

I generally wait until a tooth is mostly assymptomatic.
(largely pain free) before making the crown.

If there is a crack in the tooth however, I tend to crown
earlier rather than later. A temp crown can be helpful
in this regard, to help deter further splitting, and can be
an aid in diagnosis.

Well, I called the guy, and spoke to his assistant first: she said
that there can be some pain for several months! If I am in that
category, this is gonna really suck...

Then I spoke to the endontist. He said that the root canal turned out
perfectly, and it wouldn't make sense to try to redo it. He didn't
have an explanation for why it seemed to be getting better than got
worse. He didn't think there was an infection, but was willing to put
me on antibiotics anyway (perhaps just to appease me). One
complication that he did mention was that if the tooth was indeed
cracked (he didn't see any crack during the RC) and the pain did not
eventually go away, the only option would be to have surgery (to do
what I'm not sure) or to have the tooth pulled - neither option I am
keen on.

So how is it that a cracked tooth can cause pain even after the root
has been removed? The tooth itself can't be hurting anymore right?
Would the crack somehow aggravate the periodontal ligament?

I was getting a bit annoyed with the guy because he seemed unwilling
to even consider the possibility that he may have done something wrong
or even suboptimal during the procedure. One thing I noticed was that
he seemed to have to apply a lot of downward pressure when inserting
the permanent composite filling on top of the RC work. Not sure why
that would have been necessary, unless the composite was setting
faster than he was working... I suppose he could have cracked the
tooth himself, but aside from that, could too much pressure have done
some other harm or messed up the RC?

John.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Should the good filling be taken out...
    ... Cracked tooth only hurts when you spread the fractured peice away from the ... >> If pain goes away, ... >> Take out old filling and inspect for cracks. ... moving on to a crown is my next step. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Fillings, Root Canal Infection, and Liability
    ... minutes during a time of pain but I as well know it would not be worth ... I have a good diet; I eat mainly organic and non-GMO foods. ... The original appointment was for a filling in the upper-right-back of ... expansion did it) on a tooth that had a cavity. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Temporary filling casuing pain, should I be concerned?
    ... filled in the core of the tooth, leaving the external tooth in place. ... My dentist built up a large filling; it was a dense silvery grey ... The pain isn't as bad as when I had the ... first filling after the fracture. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Fillings, Root Canal Infection, and Liability
    ... minutes during a time of pain but I as well know it would not be worth ... I have a good diet; I eat mainly organic and non-GMO foods. ... to have composite filling (I would have taken that and didn't know it ... expansion did it) on a tooth that had a cavity. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: OT: ! My life is upside down !
    ... It's too painful to leave it off, ... have it setting on what's left of the tooth. ... if I lay down and sleep, it will fall down my throat during the night. ... I'm sorry you're in pain. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
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