Hi Jamm,

Conventional, mainstream dentistry including all areas of it even specialists, do not advocate removing root canaled teeth or admit that root canaled teeth are chronically infected because they were taught to "SAVE" teeth... meaning retain, not cure ..... and to keep the teeth and in many cases no matter what. Also, if mainstream dentists were to admit the bacterial infections in root canal teeth as being problematic, they would lose A LOT of money because people may choose not to do the root canal. Mainstream dentists, general and endodontists, rely on root canal therapy as a main portion of their financial earnings. That is a tough thing to give up or even curtail a bit. So until dental implants become the "go to" procedure instead of root canal therapy, dentists will continue to promote them.

I am telling you that because the OS is going to say there is nothing wrong with your pre molar if you are not having specific pain in it. The pathology on the xray is typical with a rc teeth and although it is bacterial and infectious, it is considered expected to be seen. Until your pain can be pinpointed to that tooth or you develop a large abscess, which neither may ever occur in that specific area, most mainstream dentists will tell you to keep that tooth. The irony of that has to do with the systemic connection and how oral health is directly correlated with every system of the body. Meaning oral infections are not limited to the mouth as the bacteria travels through the blood stream, lymphatic system, etc.

To answer your legal question about the first OS....
He is legally obligated to reply to you and here's why. You are a patient of his record in the sense that he performed oral surgery on you and you have been back to him with ongoing and unresolved problems since. He could have said let's go back in there and clean this up... with no additional charge to you because it should have been done at the time of the extraction.
The issues is that he knows it has now become obvious that he should not have extracted the tooth without an xray and that the surgery was incomplete. He was correct in that there does not appear to be any tooth remnants in the socket but the mercury should, without question, have been removed. So to put it bluntly he may be hoping that if he ignores you, someone else will clean up his mess. At this point, I would be hesitant to see him for any further dentistry because his first surgery was less than ideal and he's not being forthcoming with you about the reality of the situation ..:-/

Here's what you can do...
First, keep really good records of everything. if you haven't done that, then write down dates, appointments and $$ that you have some record of.

Second...
See oral surgeon #2 for the extraction of the premolar (if that is what you choose) and let him do a thorough debridement of the extraction site including removal of the mercury and sinus clean out. Pay for it.

Three..
Get a copy of the detailed surgical report from OS #2.
Send OS #1 a copy of that report with a copy of the bill for the debridement, mercury removal and sinus, with a letter stating you want him to reimbursement you for the oral surgery that was needed to thoroughly perform the surgery that he neglected to do at the time of the molar extraction.

***Make sure the letter is certified, signature requested mail and also send the same letter via regular mail. In your letter give him a date that he needs to pay you by and state in the letter "to avoid taking action with the General Dental Council or Dental Board", whatever it is called in the UK.

Taking action with them is not the same as a law suit. It is you requesting forms to file a complaint and your submitting paperwork to them describing from your records.. dates.... $$... surgery done without radio graph... repeat appointments for complaints... etc... and how that eventually led to a necessary secondary surgery done by Dr ___ for the cost of $_____ on date.

DO NOT mention anything to OS #2 about the possibility of taking action against OS #1 or requesting reimbursement from OS #1 because giving him that knowledge may cause him to bail out on you.

I am sorry you are going through this. But you have every right to seek proper dental care and the only choice you have is to become your own advocate.

If you are interested in learning about oral and systemic infections you can purchase a (laymen's) book written by Dr Robert Kulacz (dentist) and Dr Tom Levy (cardiologist) called "The Toxic Tooth, how a root canal could be making you sick".


Bryanna