Angels,

I have 40 years of dental experience, much of which is in oral surgery .... it is NOT in your best interest to have the original oral surgeon remove this implant unless he agrees to carry out a thorough debridement and consults with an infection disease specialist. He has made it clear that he has no intentions of performing a thorough surgery which means you will be NO better off after the implant is removed. In fact, you could end up worse because the surgery is going to ignite the bacteria like a torch being lit with a match. The fact that he stated to the ENT that this infection is out of his comfort zone is beyond my comprehension. I cannot tell you how scary that is to hear coming from an oral surgeon who is trained to diagnose and deal with this type of infection. The fact that he has been so dismissive of this infection and that he won't even consult with an infectious disease specialist even though he admits "it's beyond his comfort zone" tells me that he doesn't care and he could certainly benefit from some additional education on osteomyelitis asap.

By going to the original oral surgeon to remove the implant knowing full well that he is not going to do a thorough job and he is not going to properly address the infection, you are giving him permission to do just that and no more. You will not have a leg to stand on legally if you do that.

The ENT and the second oral surgeon are suggesting that the original os remove the implant for two reasons:

#1 Because you don't seem to want to cut ties with that oral surgeon in spite of knowing that he is not treating you properly. They can't speak ill of him to you without risking a law suit from him. They also are cautious about treating you because they do not want to be blamed by you for any post operative complications or additional surgeries that may need to be done due to the extent of the infection and because of the previous surgeries that were done.

#2 Ideally, the guy who put the implant in should be the one to remove it. However, not in your case. It makes no sense to have two inappropriate surgeries done. The second oral surgeon can remove the implant and debride the infection and is willing to work with the ENT and infection disease specialist. He needs to have ALL of your records as I have stated previously. They are his guideline for performing the surgery.

If you forgo the original oral surgeon, stop going to him for anything and "hire" the ENT and the second oral surgeon to treat you, they will take you on as their patient and collaborate with an infection disease specialist. But if you keep the original oral surgeon involved at all, then you cannot blame these other doctors for not helping you any further. By keeping the original surgeon in the picture, you keep throwing these other guys into a mix that they do not want to be a part of and for good reason.

It is not that nobody cares.... it is that the original oral surgeon should be let go so that others can more easily step in and take care of you.

Angels, I have given you as much information as I possibly can. You have to be comfortable with your decision and I hope that you will give serious thought to the actions that you take from here on out.

Bryanna

Cleo,

The second oral surgeon has not performed any treatment on Angels. He is reluctant to do so, which any other oral surgeon would be also, as long as she stays under the care of the original oral surgeon.

I don't know her reasons for not seeking legal advise but it just may be because she feels to ill to deal with it right now. If she can let go of the original surgeon and work with the ENT, the second oral surgeon and the infectious disease specialist, once she feels a little better she can then proceed with legal counsel. At least that is how I am interpreting the situation as it stands right now.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,
Just to clarify. I am the one that keeps telling the ENT and second oral surgeon that I want the second oral surgeon to do the work. THEY are the ones that are telling me to go back to original oral surgeon to have him take it out. I DON'T want to go to original oral surgeon, but I feel as though I have no choice.

I do have a phone call into the oral surgeon. I am going to talk to him about what he is planning to do. Also, the ENT told me to make sure he does a bacterial sample when he takes it out. So I want to discuss that with him. I want to make sure he does a thorough cleaning with this. It is feeling more infected every day.

Angels,

Based on all that you have shared here, I come away with the impression that you wanted to stay with the original oral surgeon as you kept going back to him in spite of his recklessness. I think the ENT and the second oral surgeon right from the get go got that same impression. Therefore, they are not going to intervene as long as that is their impression. I also think it had come to the point where their reluctance to treat you had grown because you seem to trust what the first surgeon did and what he told you. You would contact them only to verify or not verify what the first surgeon did or said.

You keep going back and forth between all of these doctors as if you are skeptical of all of them. But the only one that raises any question about where his interests lie is the original oral surgeon.

You do have a choice. Decide what that is and go with it.

Bryanna

Angels,

Again you are contacting the first surgeon who does not want to remove the implant. Who has not be forth coming with you, dismissed your symptoms and infection, scared you into doing the implant ... anything else?

The ENT once again is sticking his neck out to you because he is concerned that the surgery will be incomplete. He is not going to say those exact words to you ... but he's informing you of the importance of having the culture done. The surgeon should not have to be told to do that but it's clear that he doesn't give a damn. He is not going to be open to anyone suggesting or tell him anything. He is going to do whatever the hell he wants and you're going to let him.

I feel awful for you. This got way out of hand right from the start. The first red flag with this oral surgeon was his reluctance to collaborate with the ENT and to recognize the obvious on going symptoms that you kept presenting with of a bad infection. Instead, he scared you into doing the implant.

Please, step back, take a deep breath and think this through.

Bryanna

I talked with him on the phone and he is still saying that there is no infection even with the MRI. He says I need to go to an Infectous disease doctor, which I am fully aware of. He clearly doesn't think anything is wrong. He told me I had these symptoms long before the implant, but I told him I haven't felt well since the implant. I asked him if it was supposed to hurt, he said no that is not normal. He said he will take the implant out and clean it but there will be nothing to clean as there is no infection. He said he won't prescribe antibiotics either. I will have to pay again if I want another implant, so I am thinking he is still charging me. I still have the ability to stop payment on the credit card. The problem is both doctors, The ENT and the other oral surgeon said to have him take it out. Even though I Told them I want the second oral surgeon to do it. I am getting worse by the day, I feel horrible and want this thing out. He is willing to do it and even will do the bacteria test. I have to go pick it up and the ENT's office though.

Ok, I went to pick up the bacteria test kit at the ENT and the girl behind the desk made a remark that she can't believe the oral surgeons office does not have that. Then I started thinking, what have I got myself into? What if he takes this out and it does unleash bacteria, I could get very sick. I told the girl to have the ENT call me today. No calls yet. But, also I picked up my MRI and have the narrative part and the CD. Is there anyway I can send at least the narrative part to you?

Oral surgeon 2 failed to help just last week. Oral surgeon 1 sounds more like a general dentist wanna be making the $$$ of an OS?? Angels.... YOU need an outside 3rd opinion from an Oral Surgeon who deals with facial nerve trauma and bone disease before you do anything that puts you in a life long condition!

I talked to the ENT tonight and he is going to get me in to Infectous disease doctor next week. My husband talked with my father in law tonight who is an orthopedic surgeon who knows about bone infections. He says do not go back to this guy as well as the Malpractice attorney I talked to today. I have to cancel my appointment to have the implant taken out in the morning. So I am NOT going back to oral surgeon #1. The ENT is pretty sure the implant is in my sinus also and apparently the radiologist who did the report is the the best in town. The ENT says there is compelling evidence of a bone infection. I really want to go to oral surgeon #2 because he is so highly recommended by the ENT. He does not seem to be running an oral surgery "mill". I will keep you updated.