Hey everyone! Thanks for chiming in, no need to apologize for slow response, I just forgot about timezones haha Here's the update I promised I'd be back with!

The Root Canal

I went in so the root canal guy could take a look at his work. BTW I asked the front desk and he's not an endodontist. Anyway, he looked at my tooth, took another x-ray, asked if the antibiotics helped since at this point, everything looks good, no discoloration or swelling etc.

I told him yes, I wasn't having infection symptoms anymore but my main concern was that I still couldn't bite down on anything without pain, which I've never had happen after a root canal. It feels like something is jabbing up into the gum when I do and I didn't want to assume that would stop once I have my crown put on.

He said, "Do you know you still have your wisdom teeth? You have pain biting down because of your wisdom tooth". There's a slight language barrier so I thought maybe he wasn't understanding my problem.

The wisdom tooth he pointed to is the last molar on my right side and my root canal tooth is the first. I know I'm not a dentist but things have to make sense to me for me to understand and accept what I'm being told when it comes to my health.

So I asked him to explain how a wisdom tooth I've always had that's not even touching my root canal tooth is the reason I now have trouble biting down on it when I didn't have trouble biting down before the root canal? He said because the wisdom tooth isn't straight.

I said ok but it's always not been straight and the pain isn't pressure or as if my bite is crooked or anything, it's pain from biting down flat on something like normal and feels like something inside the root canal tooth is poking at me.

He gave me the usual all teeth are connected spiel so it didn't matter that the wisdom tooth isn't actually touching the root canal tooth, it's why I'm having pain biting, not the root canal, so they're going to pull my wisdom tooth out.

I haven't been very assertive up until all these problems started because I've been trying to trust the professionals but I put my foot down and said, "No, no one is removing anything" and he kind of barked back, "It's not a choice, the wisdom tooth needs to come out".

I stood my ground and said that there's no way I'm allowing them to take out a perfectly good tooth just because he's trying to sell me that it couldn't possibly be the root canal giving me problems with the root canal.

If the wisdom tooth "needs" to come out, why didn't it "need" to come out prior to the root canal? Why was this the first time anyone has ever even mentioned my wisdom teeth in all the years I've been seeing dentists?

I felt like he's just trying to deflect from the work that he did and the fact that something about it doesn't feel right. Either that or he really just didn't understand what I meant when I said pain biting down.

He tried to convince me saying that it's common for adults to have their wisdom teeth taken out (I know that) and it's fast and comes right out and isn't a big deal. I said it's a big deal to me because it's my tooth.

I didn't say this bit to him but I don't want someone to go yanking things out when I don't even trust that half of what they're telling me is necessary actually is. Once your tooth is gone, it's gone so I don't take that decision lightly no matter which tooth it is.

So then he said, "Well, it is your choice but even though your wisdom teeth are fine now, they might give you problems in the future". What won't at this point? So that was a bust but I'll follow up on it again with the head dentist next time I can go in unless I find a new place first.

The Broken Filling

I stopped the head dentist and asked if he had a minute to look at my lower left hole since he never did, only the "jerk" did. He took me in the room, looked at it, then said, "I mean, I can put something on to cover the hole". I said okay.

He put that beige goop on, which was pointless because it all came back out a few hours later anyhow but at least he was the only one to offer to do something. I still was a little miffed from talking to the other guy though so I didn't ask him to explain to me why nothing more permanent is scheduled to be done to that hole and why. I'll ask another time. I just wanted to leave.

Extra Concave Filling

I did ask him to look at the upper left filling the "jerk" did, the one that felt way too concave and also jagged (pieces of food stick to it like they're caught on a hooke). He said, "It looks fine... I mean, if it was any higher, there'd be no room for your lower tooth and it would just end up cracking it."

I was fine with that though the food catching thing is annoying. If that keeps happening, I may ask if it can be smoothed a little to make it less rough.

The Front Moving Crown

It stills moves whenever I start eating and it still gives me pain in the gum above it and based of the tooth afterwards. I'm pretty sure it's rotting away under there. This is what I'm most concerned about out of everything because it's the front and I really don't want to sit around waiting for the crown to fall off and be toothless.

It may be vain but I'm a young woman, not an elderly one used to having bridges, dentures, for my front teeth. I don't yet know if I can afford to get an implant if the tooth has to be extracted and having nothing isn't an option, especially with me often working on camera. I'd jam a chiclet in there if I had to lol

Now I'm starting to get pain in the adjacent front tooth as well. It's the one that was healthy before it got shaved down and capped so I plan on getting both evaluated again soon. I feel like once you allow a dentist to touch a healthy tooth for any reason - especially one who may not be that skilled - it's going to be problematic so I'm not surprised I'm getting pain in that one now.

The Shooting Pain Front Tooth

This one hasn't been flaring up so bad even though I know something's up with it, been pain free lately thank goodness though I'm not going to stop mentioning it when asked about the issues I've been having.

My Records

I was finally able to get a copy of my records. It was like pulling teeth (haha). I asked for it and they all gawked at me like I just asked to have my legs broken on purpose. One said, "Why?" I said because I wanted a copy of my dental records and treatment history. "Um, for what, to keep in your house?" Yes. "Bu-bu-but you'll have to pay for it". That's not a problem.

Then one said to the other in a low voice, "Have the head dentist look at her records before giving her a copy...". I thought that was shifty. Why does he need to see it first? If everything in my records is on the level, I should be able to see it unaltered as it is right now.

They went to get him and thankfully, even he didn't understand why she wanted him to look at it first. She just kept saying, "She wants a copy of it. I just think you should look at it first to... make sure... everything looks alright..." He said to just give it to me so I finally have them now, hooray!

But then when I went to check out, the girl said, "So it looks like all you're waiting for right now are the crowns and your next root canal". I asked what next root canal, where? The last time I was in, I was told all I had left were the crowns? She said it says a root canal on the upper right.

I didn't want to question if she was reading my chart right or not but I told her I just had a root canal done on the upper right and I was told last time that was it and no one said anything to me about another. She looked at the chart again and said, "Well, it looks like you're going to have another one behind that one".

Behind it would be the second molar that there are no issues with. She asked if I wanted to schedule it and at this point, this is all so absurd I kind of laughed and said, "No, no, no... we won't be doing any of that. I'll be in touch". That just came out of nowhere. Still not sure if she was just reading it wrong because she's only been there a short while so I plan to ask the head dentist.

Second Opinion

I've been trying to find a new dentist to go to for a second opinion but I can't get any local recommendations because everyone I bump into goes where I go now and the few who don't are well-to-dos who have a private family dentist.

So I'm looking into going into the city. It's just the choices there are overwhelming and the dentists with the best reviews that have been around a long time and that people swear by are also the hardest ones to get in to see.

That's been my concern with having a dentist far away from me or that's really popular with hundreds of patients. Not being able to be seen when I have a problem either because they're too busy or because I have to travel 1-2 hours to get there and can't arrive in time.

My current dentist is literally down the street from me. But at this point I'd rather a really good dentist hard to get a hold of than cruddy ones nearby so I'm looking into it. I also went to the ADA's site and they linked to this dentist search I'm going to try.

My questions at this point until I get some second opinions is that while I was googling stuff about decay under crowns and such, I saw some people mentioning two things...

1) That dental hygienists are better at detecting decay going on under crowns than the dentists/x-rays because of how they're digging around the gum line. Is this true?

2) That people should look into dental offices that are up on more contemporary treatments, specifically lasers that they use for a variety of things from repairs to killing bacteria and fighting decay. I've never heard of anything to do with lasers and dental work. Does it have a name so I can research this?

3) There was talk of a new type of crown that's more opaque/transparent on an x-ray allowing your tooth to be seen underneath it which aids in being able to see problems going on underneath the crown that can't be seen with the regular porcelain/metal crowns. Anyone heard of this?

4) I heard there's dental puddy I can purchased over the counter that I may be able to use just to stick in that hole where the filling is for now. Would that be advisable or should I just leave it be?

Thanks so much for reading!