My husband was in an accident that landed him in the E.R. He also had some fractured teeth. The dentist wanted to wait a couple of weeks before seeing him. Over that period of time, the tooth changed color. The dentist said she felt dried blood, but my husband was in no pain so she just fitted him for a temporary crown which was completed within 3 weeks. It was after this that the problems really started.
A few weeks later, he ended up in serious enough pain to have an emergency root canal treatment started along with a 5 day treatment of amoxicillin. At first, there was a bit of pain relief, but then by the time she finished the root canal treatment a week later, he was in pain again. She said to give it time. Two weeks later, his pain had increased. We went back and she decided to root canal the tooth next to it. I was uncomfortable with that as his pain wasn’t in that tooth, but she said she was out of ideas and this was worth trying. He’s still in massive pain and I don’t know what to do for him. Should we have the tooth extracted? Can it still be saved?
Rebecca
Dear Rebecca,
Your husband sure has been put through the wringer here. I am glad you are trying to advocate for him. There are a few things that went wrong here. I wish your dentist would have root canaled your husband’s tooth when she first saw the discoloration. That was an obvious sign that he needed one and doing it before an infection sets in gives it the best chance. Instead, she waited until there was pain and infection.
On the topic of infection, I don’t understand why she just gave him 5 days of an antibiotic if the root canal wasn’t closed until a week later. It is the standard operating procedure to have enough antibiotics to last until after the tooth is closed. Otherwise, the infection has nowhere to drain and there is a greatly increased chance of the infection flaring up again. Her choice of antibiotic is questionable too.
Your dentist has done so much wrong here, including a second root canal treatment that was at best, an honest attempt in ignorance. My recommendation is that you get him to an endodontist as soon as possible. Tell them what has happened and they may get him scheduled for an emergency dental appointment. They may prescribe him some clindamycin first in order to get this infection under control and then see him. Either way, make sure they at the very least get him out of pain in the interim.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.