I’m at my wit’s end and am sure I’ve got an infection. I had a tooth which needed treatment but I didn’t have the money. Eventually, as expected, it got worse and needed to be extracted. I asked my dentist if I needed a prescription. For some unexplainable reason, he assumed I was asking for painkillers. He shouted to me about addictions and said he wasn’t a dealer. It took me a second to realize what he assumed I was talking about. I sucked up my pride, putting aside the fact that he was stereotyping me for being a low-income single mother and calmly explained I was talking about an antibiotic. He left without a word of anything let alone an apology. A few moments later his assistant came in with my papers. I asked her about an antibiotic and she said the dentist said it wasn’t necessary. I left, hoping he was right. It’s two days later and I’m absolutely miserable. The problem is, it’s the area next to the extracted tooth. I don’t know if that means the extraction site is infected or the tooth next to the extracted one. What do I do? I don’t feel the least bit comfortable seeing my dentist after his false accusations.
Andrea
Dear Andrea,
What a dreadful experience. I don’t blame you for not wanting to return. You need a dentist who treats you with respect and doesn’t jump to conclusions based on your socio-economic status. There are family dentists out there who get to know the families they serve. Don’t feel like you will always be judged.
As for your pain, yes, there’s still an infection somewhere. It could be both teeth were infected and he just treated the one you already knew had a problem as to keep down his costs. This would match his personality of making assumptions.
Another possibility is the treated tooth just had a large amount of decay but not the infection. The adjacent tooth may have been the only one infected and referred pain to the other tooth. Referred pain is common in dental care.
It sounds like you should have been given an antibiotic to begin with but there’s no going back in time. Because you’re in need of a dentist right away, you can try to get an emergency dental appointment with another dentist. If you have trouble getting in right away see if your medical doctor will prescribe an antibiotic while you try to get another family dentist.
Best of luck to you. I hope your next dentist is so wonderful the memory of this last one becomes a distant blip.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.