Hi, On December 4th my crown on tooth #18 popped off and started everything. My Dentist re-cemented the crown back on and the pain was excruciating, it went through my mind that something wasn't right. 1 week of non stop pain and I called the dentist back (he is only there on Thursday nights and books up fast).

January 15th he did a root canal on #18 and it was infected so I took 10 days of antibiotics. (he uses the wand machine with 2 different anesthetics).

February 4th, root canal on #18 finished and crown saved and put back on but I was still having hot and cold sensations so we scheduled a root canal for tooth #19. Prescribed a Z pack.

March 12th root canal on tooth #19, another infected tooth so 10 more days of antibiotics.

March 19th emergency visit to dentist for pain. Dentist sanded the crown on #18 down to adjust bite.

March 26th another emergency visit to Dentist. He suggests that I see a specialist but then he decides to take the crown off of #18 because I thought it felt like it was throbbing. He had to numb my whole jaw to get the crown off because of the pain. 10 more days of antibiotics.

April 2nd went to see an Endodontist, the X-rays didn't show anything wrong with #18 or #19. He did a cold test and found #20 to be sensitive so he did a root canal on #20.

April 7th back to Endodontist still in severe pain. He sanded #20 down and gave me 7 days of antibiotics. He did another cold test and #21 now sensitive to cold (#21 is a virgin tooth).

April 23rd back to general Dentist to finish root canal on #19. He suggested seeing a neurologist and not have anymore dental work done. After #19 was finished I had one week of no pain but exactly one week later on April 30th the pain came back full fledged.

May 5th Endodontist took more X-rays and can see no problems. I now have an appointment for a 2D dental scan with an Oral Surgeon on May 11th.

Any ideas on what might be causing all this pain? I can't sleep at night, I'm crabby and frustrated and we are going on vacation May 17th.......been planned for months and can't cancel. Endodontist did give me some vicoden for vacation and another round of antibiotics.

Thank you.

Hi karensue,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.

Talk about over prescribed dentistry!!

The original problem seems obvious in that #18 was infected when the crown came off and it should not have been recemented on. This recementation was most likely the cause of the symptoms. In order for the crown to be put back on at that time, the dentist had to debride (clean up) the tooth which stirred up the bacteria and then inflammation set in. Covering an inflamed and infected tooth with a crown is going to cause a build up of pressure in that tooth and that is why you had such pain following the recementation.

The root canal procedure is done to remove some visible nerve tissue and retain the tooth. The procedure cannot cure the infection as the nerve tissue in the microscopic canals cannot be removed. An infected tooth can infect the adjacent teeth and bone and so on. In all probability tooth #18 was infected for a very long time but you were not aware of it until you had pain after the recementation of the crown.

It is possible that the additional root canals may not have been warranted as the pain may have been coming from #18 the whole time. Did the xrays blatantly show that these other teeth were infected prior to performing the root canals? Cold sensitivity is not a legitimate reason to root canal a tooth. So please be cautious about letting anyone do another root canal on you.

You have been on far too many antibiotics and not only hasn't the original problem been solved but now you have several additional compromised and non vital teeth. Your intestinal health is also in jeopardy as the antibiotics have destroyed any good bacteria that was present which could result in an intestinal bacterial infection. Do you take a probiotic supplement? Do you know what that is? Do you want information on that?

You can develop neurological type pain from infected teeth and unfortunately all of the teeth that you had root canaled are harboring bacteria which causes inflammation to the nerves, etc.

May I ask, do you have regular dental care or do you see the dentist when you only have a problem? I am just trying to get a feel of why this has happened to you. Also, do you live in the US ? You can PM me that information if you prefer.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna
Thank you for your speedy reply. I go to the dentist every 6 months for cleaning. I last went in October and at that time, I had started to feel something a couple times that hurt when I bit down but the dentist didn't find any problems at my check up. It was 2 months later then that #18 crown popped off. I think you are right about #18 was going bad for a long time, I remember going to my general doctor before Thanksgiving and telling her that I had this weird tapping in my ear like a little drummer and she gave me a muscle relaxer. The tapping was driving me CRAZY but it just kind of went away on it's own.

I had a feeling that the crown should never have been put back on. All the pain for some reason now feels like it is coming from #19. #19 had been filled and built up with pins back in 1977 so I was dreading the day that tooth went all the way bad.

I am in Illinois, USA. I do know what probiotics are, I don't take a supplement but I do eat Yogurt every day, so hopefully that will help.

Thanks again for your reply, I look forward to hearing from you again to see what you think of this whole mess.

Karen

karen,

Okay so you have regular dental care. Do you have routine xrays done? Like a full mouth series (20 xrays) every 3 years and 4 bite wings once a year? Was an xray taken of tooth #18 and 19 at your last check up when you complained about it? Because this infection was brewing for months.

Tooth #19 had a large old filling and pins, is that correct? You are right that tooth was a time bomb. Pins are rarely if ever used anymore because they are so irritating to the pulp. So chances are either xrays haven't been taken regularly or the problems with 18 and 19 had been undiagnosed. For your dentist to perform or suggest root canaling one tooth after the other without a previous notion of any major problems with ALL of those teeth .... is truly ridiculous.

I would consult with a dentist who is not affiliated with any dentist you have seen so far. The problem you are going to run into is that most dentists are going to be leery of treating you because of the dentistry that you had done they don't want to end up blamed for anything. I am going to pm you the name of a dentist in Downers Grove, Ill who is a member of the IAOMT organization. You can google IAOMT.org and read up on what the members believe in. I cannot vouch for this dentist as I do not know her personally. But she may be someone who you can email or speak to for some healthy guidance.

Regarding probiotics.... yogurt is not enough. By the time commercial yogurt is made, processed and delivered to the store, the good bacteria is dead in it because of the various temperatures that it has gone through during that time period. Antibiotics can cause an intestinal infection to occur weeks, even months after you stop taking them because the immune system requires good bacteria to keep the intestine healthy. You are most likely depleted in good bacteria considering the amount of antibiotics you have taken and without adequate probiotics to help replenish what has been destroyed. Also stress and all of this unhealthy dentistry is also wiping out your immune system.

It would be best to take a multi strain probiotic along with a pre biotic to help the bacteria adhere to the lining of the intestine better. I will pm you the names of those supplements.

Bryanna

Karen,

Since you are a new member here, I am unable to send you a personal message because you are too new OR you have not set that feature up yet?

If you do set it up, then pm me and I will return my reply to you the same way.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,
I think I set it up to receive messages now. I tried to click on your profile but I don't see how to send a PM.

Once again, your information is very useful to me......makes a lot of sense..........thank you so much!

Karen,

I still cannot send the message to you. Perhaps you have to be a member for awhile or something like that....??

I will send Chemar a pm nd see if she can help.

Bryanna

Karen,

I cannot send you a PM but I did send you a message on your profile page. Please check there.

Bryanna

Goodmorning!

This morning I am going for A 2D X-ray at the Oral Surgeon's office. Hopefully he will find what is causing all the pain.

Hi again,
My trip to the Oral Surgeon was another waste of time. He didn't see anything on the 2D X-ray. My whole mouth hurts now.............
The only thing he said was to call my dentist and see if he can have a night guard made for me that my clenching might be causing muscle pain.