Rekna

Hi,

Recently I have started feeling a pulsating pain in one of my top molers (the one closest to the middle on the left side). I know I should see a dentist but this tooth has some major history and I wanted advice first. About a year and a half ago I had a root canal done on this tooth and it was topped with a crown. They told me at that point I'd never feel pain in that tooth again. About a month later the tooth got very sensitive to the point I couldn't bite down and slightly pushing on it caused extreme pain. My dentist removed the crown and redid the root canal (with no charge). Now a year later that tooth is acting up again. It is semi-sensitive to touch (moreso if the pressure is horizontal to the tooth). I can feel the pain pulse into the tooth. But if I had a root canal on this tooth (twice!) how is it possible I am still feeling any pain? There are no nerves left in it! My only guess is somehow the bone where it is connecting is infected or the nerve endings are inflamed or the dentist missed some parts of the nerve in the tooth. I had a regular checkup a month ago which included new xrays and the dentist did not see anything wrong in the standard checkup. Finally I do not have dental insurance and have spent over $2500 on dental work in the last 2 years and i'd rather not pay another $300-$400 on another root canal on a tooth i've already paid to have one on!

First what is likely wrong? If it is just an inflamed nerve what can I do to sooth the nerve? Would taking antibiotics help kill any infection? I have a friend who is a doctor that i think would prescribe me antibiotics so if taking antibiotics would likely help i'd like to go that way because it would save me the $100 emergency visit charge at the dentist.

Lastly if I do indeed need another root canal should it be covered for free as long as I go to the same dentist? It would seem as though the original root canal would have been done incorrectly and thus any costs should be covered by them (like it was the first time this happened).

Thanks for your time any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Daniel_

I would remind you that free dental advice from random people on the interweb is not one of the recommended methods of solving mouth pain...

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Rekna

Sorry if I didn't clarify this but i'm hoping that a dentist or orthodontist with reply to this.

Siege

post in the "any questions for a dentist" thread. popo regularly checks for and answers questions.

or better yet, pm him.

but as daniel posted, you might want to get someone to actually look at it.

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Rekna

I pmed popo and I will probably go in on Monday. What bothers me is that I will likely have to get work done on a tooth i've had 2 root canals on....

Plaid13

maybe that dentist you have been going to dosnt know what hes doing. I bet its some sort of infection but antibiotics might help but then after they wear off it could just get infected again if its not cleaned out right. go see a diffrent dentist and make sure they know what has already been done. if theres really no nerves left then you shouldnt feel anything.. so they must of done something wrong.

Rekna

It turns out that a small infection has built up underneath the root canal. They are going to treat it with antibiotics and if it doesn't get better in a few days they will have to retreat the root canal. Apparently they believe that there may be a small side canal. In addition this apparently isn't as rare as you would think.

Thanks everyone

StormBerlin

Didja get any pain meds? I'm glad you got it worked out, mouth pain is the worst.

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Rekna

Yeah lots of loratabs and vicoprofen. But I needed so many of them that they wern't very enjoyable. I spent the weekend puking from the loratabs

popo

Sorry I didn't get the PM till now. Doesn't sound like you're having fun.

It sure does sound like the tooth is reinfected. Upper molars do have an extra canal that needs to be cleaned and filled. It's not always easy to find and that's why root canal specialists (endodontists) typically have a big microscope handy.

Did your guy do anything wrong? I have no idea. Would I, at this point, ask to see an endodontist? Yes.

Folks, I'm very comfortable with GP's doing the vast majority of procedures but if you EVER have doubt whether you'd be better off in a specialist's chair, ask. If not satisfied, ask again.

For reference, the specialties are:

Pedodontics: kids
Orthodontics: correcting tooth positions/facial deformities
Periodontics: periodontal disease, gum/bone grafting, implants
Oral & maxillofacial surgery: jaw fractures/trauma, wisdom teeth, bone grafting, implants
Endodontics: root canals
Prosthodontics: complex dentistry, full mouth rehabs
Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology
Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology
Public Health

There is no such thing as a "Cosmetic Specialist" or "Implant Specialist".

/rant

I hope you feel better soon.