Failed root canal, what now? Soooo painful!
 

Ok. I've been reading these forums here for the last few days and it seems there some pretty educated people here.

I've had three root canals in my life. Two have been extracted due to cavities forming and the teeth being unsalvageable by the time I had money to see a dentist. My last RC was done about 8-9 months ago. In the last month my face has been swelling (both sides) and I've also had extensive fillings and some extractions. I wrote this swelling off due to extractions I've had. I have seen my dentist multiple times and because he can't see any infection on his X-rays he told me to see my Dr and rule out a sinus infection (seems he must know they can't see some infections in their X-rays otherwise why "rule out" a sinus infection instead of stating matter of factly that it is a sinus infection?). Anyway, went to my Dr. Got a steriod spray. Everything was golden. No more pain. No more swelling....and then...suddenly this morning my RC tooth (last molar, too right would have been right next to my wisdom tooth not sure what number it is) it's zinging me like crazy and is VERY sensitive to touch. It's very painful now and after talking to my dentist he wanted me to see an edodontist and have a repeat RC. Well, that's not happening. I believe it should be extracted and due to not having any faith in my current dentist (a whole other laundry list of things I belive he has screwed up) i demanded a referral to an Oral surgeon for the extraction. So, that is in the process of happening now.

What I realy NEED to know is what I can do in the meantime. The oral surgeon cannot fit me in for another 6-8 weeks. I'm in pain here. Not just a bit of pain, but I'm ready to snap already and it only started this morning kind of pain. Is there anything I can actually do to help with the pain for the next 6-8 weeks?? I took some Tylenol 3 already, it hasn't done anything. I took it hours ago so I would assume if it was going to work, it would have already. Do I see my family Dr and try for some Vicodin? That seems a bit extreme to me, but this pain is real and awful and im not sure what to do. Can a person even take Vicodin daily for 6-8 weeks? Ugh....what are my options here?

Thank you.

I've had 2-3 RC's in my 77 yrs. Two have given me no problems, the last one I had was probably close to 10 yrs ago and it's been an issue. I could have had major work done and spent $$$$$ years ago but I started to do research on remedies.

Long story short, I work with home remedies as I've learned so much in the last 10 yrs for sure. Oil of Oregano is a powerful herb and I'm using it with a solution I make up which includes small amounts of other things including collodial silver and clove oil, arnica tabs and after years of hearing about Oil of Oregano I've added it to my solution. I've been pain free for over a couple months now with my new "brew". I've had mega dental work over my long life so now I work to keep myself pain free with home remedies. This is what works for me NOW. I've been down the road in my life with dental work. I am one who is anti fluoride and MOST of our pubic waters have Fluroide added. Long story on this issue too.

http://www.homeremediesweb.com/oil_o...h_benefits.php

Read the comments from people at the end of this article.

This is what I do as I don't want to take more and more pain meds...

I've heard of these sort of things working for people but have always written them off as "witch doctor spells" lol. At this point, I concede. I would wash my mouth out with gasoline if someone told me it would help. Haha.

So what's the magic potion? Do I rinse with it or swallow it? Please! I'll do anything!! Can I have a recipe???

Hi stylinmama,

Without exception, all root canaled teeth harbor infectious necrotic nerve tissue inside of the hundreds and hundreds of microscopic canals called dentin tubules. These canals are not accessible during the rc procedure which renders the tooth chronically infected. In addition to these canals, the large visible canals that were scraped during the rc procedure often contain remnants of infected nerve tissue that was not removed. Confirmation of this nerve tissue has been identified and confirmed in countless pathology reports on biopsied extracted rc teeth. This is not old information it is well established and current. To help you understand the magnitude of the amount of the nerve filled dentin tubules, I will attach a diagram of the anatomy of a tooth which clearly show these tubules. They are the hundreds of thin brown lines marked dentin tubules.

Unbeknownst to most people, root canal therapy is not performed to cure an infected tooth. It is done in an attempt to "save, meaning retain" an unhealthy tooth for a uncertain amount of time. It is irrelevant as to how many times a tooth is root canaled because the anatomy is what it is leaving the tooth chronically infected. The only other option is extraction which in most cases becomes inevitable.

Based on your description of your dental history with this tooth including the possible sinus involvement as well as the pattern and severity of the pain, it is not in your best interest to wait to have this tooth extracted. Oral surgeons see patients on emergency basis all the time. Your case would be categorized as an emergency. Due to the infection, the surgeon may choose to pre medicate you with an antibiotic for 3 days prior to the extraction. The antibiotic over the 3 day period will reduce the acidity of the infection and make the dental anesthetic more effective. If you wait to remove this tooth, the infection can spread rapidly into your sinus and become a complicated emergency situation. This is not something to wait on.

Also, please do not try to self administer any herbs or supplements to deal with this infection. Not to frighten you but to inform you.... tooth infections can become serious and they are not something to mess with. Please do not take the advice of well meaning lay people on the web who self medicate tooth infections. Symptoms are not always a reliable account of the seriousness of an infection and just because the pain subsides it does not mean the problem has resided.

You need to get in to see an oral surgeon asap. You cannot medicate with anything for 6-8 weeks as that is not even logical to think to do that. Can you call other oral surgeons to get an appointment sooner?

Bryanna

Hi, I was going to say this as soon as I read your initial post, but I see that Bryanna has already suggested you the same.

Nevertheless, from my experience with other specialists, I would find a few oral surgeons (hopefully you can also look some of them up on the internet) that are closest to you and talk to the receptionist, explain the situation and try to get an emergency appointment. From my experience, some specialists would be accommodating urgent patients as early as the following morning! And if you have to have a referral to see them, you can probably easily get one from your doctor (ie. no need to go to the dentist just for that).

Thank you for responding! I'm aware that I need to see someone ASAP. I have talked to the ONLY oral surgeon within a 4 hour drive 3-4 times today. I was told that my referral could take up to a week to even be recieved. There simply are no oral surgeons available anywhere else. I live in the middle of nowhere northern Canada. I'm at a loss. I've been on some sort of antibiotic now for 28 days (amoxicillin then doxycycline then amoxicillian again) as of today im now on Clavulin for 10 more days. Hopefully once they receive my referral, they will see that this is an "emergency" (I say it that way because it doesn't seem to matter how much pain I'm in or if the infection could spread considerably, they cannot fit me in as of yet and won't even have my referral for up to a week!). So I'm sort of just sitting in limbo taking antibiotics at an alarming rate and was hoping there would be something I could do for the pain as well. :( thank you so much for the quick response! I'm eternally frustrated right now and can't seem to get any answers from my dentist or my Dr.

Now this may sound ridiculous, but I'm starting to get actually afraid I may end up with half my cheek bone removed or die from a stupid root canal! This has not been a cheap venture in any way. I paid for the filling in the tooth. My dentist said "You may need a root canal in that tooth." I guess he drilled too far or the cavity was too deep(although the th was never a problem before the filling). Either way, I then paid $1200 for the root canal. Obviously it has failed and now I not only have to wait for EMERGENCY care but I also have to pay $1000 for it! I wish I never would have met this dentist! I got a little curious this morning and looked him up online and found nothing but awful things people had to say about him. MANY were told they have thousands of dollars worth of work to do and since they couldn't afford it, they got second opinions and other dentists told most of them that they only needed a filling or two!! I've never felt so violated in my life! I have NEVER had any issues with my teeth before seeing this "dentist". Every tooth he touches turns to crap. I was looking over some cavities he said he filled this morning and I can clearly see black diseased tooth UNDER the white filling he just put on last week!! I'm so angry and sad. :(

At least look/read this info. **

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrMNYURBi9g

Caroline,

You know from my posts that I am a huge advocate of using herbs, nutritional supplements, homeopathy, etc for many, many things and I am not discrediting the usefulness of oil of oregano. However, although this may sound extreme to the lay person, self treating a tooth infection can result in an extensive and difficult to treat infection of the adjacent teeth/the sinus/the floor of the mouth/etc, as well as severe deterioration of the jaw bone and even a fatal outcome. Just because the symptoms may temporarily subside when using the oregano, that is not any indication that the infection has gotten better or that the infection has stopped spreading. The oil of oregano temporarily decreases the acute inflammation which temporarily decreases the intensity of the symptoms.

Please forgive me Caroline as I know you mean well, but I really hope that people who watch that video think twice before self treating an infected tooth. Also by any chance ...... did you happen to notice that the right side of that little girls face was puffy? That is caused by a systemic inflammatory response that occurs from the chronic infection and it clearly demonstrates that the problem is not just where the decay is visible.

Bryanna

sylinmama,

I am not real familiar with the healthcare system in Canada. However, we've had several people on this forum who are and they have been able to get in to see a private practice dentist easier than one in the network. Is that a possibility for you? Even seeing a reputable general dentist in private practice may be a viable option if there is not an oral surgeon you can go to.

Antibiotics may subside some of your intense symptoms but given the fact that you have been on 3 different ones without much relief is even more indicative that you need to be seen asap.

Are there other dentists (private practice) near you?

Bryanna

There are many dentists within four hours of where I live, but i am at a loss as to who to see. My last dentist was so awful that I'm finding it hard to put my faith in any dentist at this point. I demanded to see on oral surgeon because I feel like they have standards (hopefully). My regular dentist said he would pull the tooth, but he has made some VERY questionable decisions as of late and I'm not comfortable with him at all. I'm scared to see anyone besides the surgeon at this poi t as my trust in the dental "professionals" is gone. On another note, the new antibiotics have already done their job and the tooth is currently pain free....but....now out of the blue one on the other side hurts like heck. I'm seriously contemplating having all of my teeth removed and getting some sort of fake ones. Ever since this man has touched my face I've had nothif but problems. How it it that an infected RC can suddenly feel better with antibiotics and at the same time a whole different tooth on the other side of my face is giving me MORE grief than the RC tooth?! I didn't think more pain was even possible....I was wrong... :(

I'm curious if removing infected bone is necessary when removing an infected tooth? Would the antibiotics not clear the infection in the bone? I'm at the point today where the pain is just too much. My original tooth is hurting again as well as the other one I mentioned. I have had four teeth pulled due to infection and have never had the dentist do anything more than just pull the tooth. So I'm just going to assume that any dentist I see will simply pull the tooth and not look at the bone at all. So, does the bone need to be removed as well? Or will the antibiotics take care of that after the tooth is extracted? And if the bone does need removing, then wouldn't that be best left to an oral surgeon? Am I not just opening myself up to even more issues if I allow a regular dentist to pull these teeth?

I cannot speak for your issue, but I know for me with my 10 yr issue where a dentist wanted to pull a molar and most likely remove a 3 tooth bridge which has a RC under it, 2 courses of amoxicillan has worked for me along with my dental remedy I've made up and recently found the benefits of oil of oregano. I had a flare up in that area about 2 months ago and worked on making my solution and apply it a couple times a day and for 2 months no pain.

I've done a lot of research on the products I use and talk with others, and as I've said swear by the OPC's (grape seed ex) I've been taking for 20+ yrs.

I use probiotics daily 30billion dose and for sure when one takes abx drugs. Vit C and Vit E are important too for our dental/mouth health. I take them all and so enjoyed the report from the Univ of Buffalo on these antioxidants and gum health.

sylinmana,

The antibiotics decrease some of the inflammation and some of the acidity of the infection reducing the pain. That does not mean the antibiotics cured the infection as the infection is inside of the microscopic canals and in your case possibly beyond the tooth. Yes, it is imperative that the infected tooth, tissue and bone be removed at the same time. If any of that is left behind, the infection will remain virulent.

Again, please do not be fooled by the reduction in pain because without question the tooth is still infected. NO herb or medicament is going to cure the infection for reasons beyond the understanding of most people who have little to no actual knowledge of the pathology of teeth, oral health and dentistry.

Are both of these teeth root canaled?

If you do not trust this dentist, then do not go to him for the extraction. It is okay to see a general dentist for oral surgery so long as they are very experienced in performing extractions of root canaled teeth and they are willing to perform a thorough debridement of the socket. Are there any periodontists near you? These dentist specialize in oral surgery also.

Bryanna

Only one of the teeth is RC. I don't trust ANY dentist. With what you've been saying, they should be at least looking at the bone after an extraction and removing any/all infected tissues. I've had two different dentists pull teeth for me and NEITHER one has EVER looked at the hole left after they extracted the tooth. They check the tooth after extraction to make sure it's all there and that's it. My assumption that they will all be that way is not unfounded. They extract the tooth then I'm given gauze to bite on, the gauze is changed, no one looks, I go home. I'm terrified to have a regular dentist pull any teeth now let alone an RC tooth. I have an appointment this morning with a regular dentist, but since he's not an oral surgeon there's really not much I'm going to allow him to do to me. I have absolutely no faith in any dentists anymore. Even fillings now terrify me as my last dentist would drill too deep causing me to need a RC. I'm really in a pickle here.... The only way to find out if a dentist is worth anything is to let them do things to you. Things that could cause major issues and pain if done unproperly. How on earth does anyone trust these people ever?

Again, I am seeing someone in about 2 hours, but my lack of faith in the dental system will likely cause me to not allow him to do anything anyway. I'm going because I'm in pain, but I feel like all dentists will just suggest another RC on the RC tooth and another one on my other tooth. And since there are studies proving that this shouldn't even be an option, how do you ever trust a profession when every one of them tells you you need a procedure that will only cause more problems?

Saw the new dentist and he says I need three fillings and that's it. It's quite the chnage from my last dentists opinion on needing another $3000 or so in work. This dentist said he has pulled many RC teeth and is perfectly comfortable pulling mine BUT he also said that sometimes the roots don't all come out and if pieces of roots remained in the bone that he would leave them there. Is that ok or just asking for trouble in the future? He too cannot help me until the 6th of January so still no relief from any of this pain or infection for another 19 days.

Do I let him pull the RC tooth and just hope and pray the roots come out whole? Or should I wait until I can see the oral surgeon in February?

sylinmama,

Without question, I would not let this dentist extract my tooth knowing that he is comfortable leaving root tips behind. To put it bluntly..... that is totally ridiculous and unacceptable!

Bryanna

That's what I figured. I will have to wait then as I'm quite sure any other dentist will be the same way. There is no one I can get in to see before February as its now Christmas hours and most offices are closing next Wednesday and not reopening until January 3rd and they are all booked up. :(

stulinmama,

Have you looked into seeing a Periodontist for possible removal of the tooth?

Bryanna

I have not looked into that yet. I will call some tomorrow and see what they have for openings. The worst part of this is having to drive 2 hours, one way, for an appointment that ends up in them not being able to do anything for me. I call, make an appointment (I'm going to assume that the peridontists will have the same hours as the dentists at this time of year and will be fully booked until after the 6th of January), i go for the appointment which is always just a consult. They take X-rays and I'm sent to book an other appointment with reception....IF they are even capable professionals. Theres probably just no way this tooth is coming out before February at this rate.