Quote:
Originally Posted by sadie682
I had a root canal in December 2012 on a back lower molar, and have had non-stop pain since then. I've had a full re-treatment, and some additional treatments (that I don't fully understand) since then, and nothing alleviates the pain, which manifests as gum and jaw pain, sometimes radiating to the ear. Recently, a new dentist thought pain might be caused by an adjacent tooth, and so last week I had a root canal on that tooth as well. I am already worried that this tooth is about to go down the same path as the first one.
I have read some posts here which advocated extractions of root-canaled teeth. I have reached the point of pain and frustration where I am willing to consider this, but my question is why do none of the dentists I have been working with (2 dentists and 2 endodontists) not recommend this? They seem to oppose it on the grounds that they cannot see anything wrong with the tooth, or the root canal work; they say I could possibly be extracting a tooth without solving the underlying cause of the pain. But what else could this pain be? They have mentioned neuralgia (I guess TN) but have not given me a way to rule this out? Is there some definitive way to rule out TN before extracting the tooth?
I was more inclined toward extraction before the second root canal. Now I am worried that I will have to lose both teeth and get implants that I don't want and can hardly afford. But, more than anything, I want this pain to go away before it gets even worse. I'm worried that there's an infection underneath or in this tooth, but I don't understand why no one can see it. Can it really be the case that there is no empirical way to prove the tooth is bad (except by removing it and starting to feel better), and there is ALSO no way to prove that it is TN or something else. I'm at the end of my rope and cannot find an endo or dentist who can tell me anything definitive.
Is there a specialist in this sort of thing, and if so, how can I find them?
Please help!
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I had root canal treatment for the first time on Monday. As I was leaving the surgery I was given an explanatory leaflet which stated ‘you may experience slight discomfort for a few days’.
Yeah right! If you wanna see a grown man cry, come round to my place. I am in agony.
I experienced no pain after the procedure on Monday, nor the next day. By halfway through Wednesday I was in agony. I guess the local anaesthetic had worn off by then.
I started taking paracetamol, but it didn’t help a lot. I only got one or two hours sleep that night. I couldn’t do a lot on Thursday except sit there in pain. In the evening I got my wife to drive me to a pharmacy and bought some Paramol, which is a combination of Paracetamol and Codeine. I’d already had my quota of Paracetamol for the day, so I shouldn’t have taken any, but I was desperate so I took a couple. Thankfully they worked, and I fell asleep straight away. After an hour or two I awoke in agony. The pain had radiated to my ear and the side of my head. I massaged gently in front of my ear and the pain subsided. I have no idea why. The pain was now bearable, but not absent. I sat up all night watching TV, without really taking it in because of the distraction of the pain.
At 6.30 in the morning I took another couple of Paramol and fell asleep for an hour or so. The problem is, you’re only supposed to take them every four hours, but the painkilling effect only lasts for a couple of hours at most, so I am in pain for at least 50% of the time.
I phoned the dental surgery when they opened and they said they’d give me a week’s supply of penicillin. I’ve started taking those now. They also said ‘continue taking the painkillers’. As if I could survive without them!
I am well placed to assess the difference between extraction and RCT because my wife had an extraction a couple of years ago. She had been in agony with one of her teeth. The dentist had offered her a choice of RCT or extraction, and she chose extraction. She said as soon as the tooth was out the pain was gone. She now has a gap in one row of lower molars, but she says it doesn’t cause her any problems.
I was offered the same choice. Now I feel like a mug for choosing RCT, especially when extraction would have been a much cheaper option.
Is RCT a scam? Depends on your point of view. Some patients die after heart surgery, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that heart surgery is a scam. Leaving aside the Mercola vs Dental Establishment debate, I find it a little unsettling that professionals can find it within their conscience to conduct a procedure that leaves patients in such excruciating pain.
At the very least I think the professional body for orthodontists should conduct a survey, by getting their members to give patients a questionnaire to be completed say six months after the RCT. The questions should be designed to provide the following data: what percentage of patients experience severe pain after RCT, how long does the severe pain last (minimum, maximum, average). Anyone still experiencing severe pain after six months should be sent a follow-up questionnaire.
It would also be good if RCT patients could be followed up to produce data showing how long before the tooth has to be extracted anyway, shown in groups e.g. less than five years after RCT, five to ten years, over ten years.
Prospective patients could then be given a leaflet with this info to help them decide whether to risk having RCT.