My dentist has no success fixing my molar pain even after he did root canal. Is it the time to change my dentist?

[snowingagain 3,648]

I

14 minutes ago, cb6dba said:

Full was not mentioned at the appointment I was at a few weeks ago...

Just local...

 

Is your regular dentist, because I would advise referral to dental surgeon.  I would want someone who does wisdom extractions all the time, not just now and then.

[cb6dba 6,244]

17 hours ago, snowingagain said:

I

 

Is your regular dentist, because I would advise referral to dental surgeon.  I would want someone who does wisdom extractions all the time, not just now and then.

My dentist said he didn't have the equipment to do it, so he referred me to a dental surgeon.

They seemed to take the whole thing as routine and nothing special.

 

[snowingagain 3,648]

20 minutes ago, cb6dba said:

My dentist said he didn't have the equipment to do it, so he referred me to a dental surgeon.

They seemed to take the whole thing as routine and nothing special.

 

Great.  It is sore afterwards, especially the first day.  So follow their instructions, and make sure you have a good supply of cold packs in the fridge against swelling.  

[cb6dba 6,244]

1 minute ago, snowingagain said:

 

Great.  It is sore afterwards, especially the first day.  So follow their instructions, and make sure you have a good supply of cold packs in the fridge against swelling.  

Thanks for the tip!

[optimista 4,691]

On 03/11/2017, 17:15:49, fredadi said:

Brief background:

After looking at my old fillings he suggested I should replace all of them with new (white) fillings.

 

Alarm, alarm, alarm. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Any replacement will be bigger and deeper. It is the dentist's job to PRESERVE your teeth, not fill up his working day and his wallet at the same time. BE WARY of dentists in Germany, they do not have the same attitude as in other countries. You open your mouth and some of them go "Humm, what can we do today?" When there is nothing wrong.

 

Root canals can be awful and take TIME to settle down. Sometimes you just have to wait.

Alternatively the pain from a tooth further forward in your mouth can be referred pain and manifest as a sharp, pulling type pain around the molar. That's to say the pain may be coming from elsewhere. Only an x-ray will shed light. Be advised that there are dentists who cannot "read" an x-ray however and may still get it wrong. Been there, done that. In Germany I made a point of using only non-German (trained) dentists after some very unnecessarily bad experiences which were only in the interests of the dentist's accounts and not my health.

[MadAxeMurderer 5,736]

@optimistaFor 30 years I had one, just one amalgam filling in my mouth. Hidden on the back molar. I went to a German dentist, 1st time in 25 years because of persistent pain in the adjacent tooth. He suggested filling the problem tooth, and replacing the ugly black amalgam filling with nice white ceramic. 

 

I thought why not? My mouth is pretty close to perfect so let's get rid the the ugly black filling.

 

For the next 5+ years I had fillings falling out of that tooth. It eventually cracked and half the tooth fell off. It only stopped being a problem after the agonising root canal. And if I had just left the ugly 30 year old amalgam in place it would probably now be an ugly 40 year old amalgam and I wouldn't know what a molar root canal feels like.

 

So I totally agree with you!

[HEM 9,849]

1 hour ago, MadAxeMurderer said:

And if I had just left the ugly 30 year old amalgam in place it would probably now be an ugly 40 year old amalgam ...

My mouth is full of 50 year old amalgam fillings - I had terrible teeth as a teenager, problems ceased when I was a student (no idea why).  I put it down to lack of flouride toothpaste (my kids here have one or two fillings at the most). 

 

Each time at the German dentist they look in wonder & say something like "if one filling develops a crack we can replace it by something else..."

[fredadi 44]

On 11/7/2017, 12:48:41, toBnruG said:

@fredadi, can you give us some timeline to go with the treatment you had and pain you've experienced?

I've been through a couple of root canals and one gave me pain long after the operation whilst the other just gave instant relief and I never felt a twinge afterwards.

When you have had severe tooth pain in any tooth, phantom pain can be something to look out for. I had such a traumatic root canal (without proper anesthetics) that the pain came shooting through my tooth for months afterwards. Pain is processed in the brain, so even a dead nerve or missing limb can appear to produce severe pain. For me it just took time (and a lot of it) for the pain to completely to go away.

If phantom pain isn't your problem, then I would suggest something in the immediate vicinity of the tooth - as others have mentioned - a wound in the area might be taking time to heal or have got infected.

 

Another thing about root canal pain is that some nerves in the vicinity are still alive, even when the root itself is gone. Particularly cold / hot pain can be caused by changes in pressure locally, so perhaps the pain comes from a nearby nerve which you cannot distinguish from the old root in terms of where the pain originates. Again, in time these things tend to settle down. So how long was it since your root canal?

@toBnruG My first appointment with my current dentist was on 14th Oct 2016. I don't even remember why I went to him, it was either for a regular checkup or for a regular checkup + a slight discomfort in one of my upper-right molar (which had and has filling)

I think that was the day when he suggested that I should replace all of my amalgam (silver) fillings with new white fillings. Although I was only having a slight discomfort in upper-left molar.MadAxeMurderer

Then on 9th Feb 2017 was the next appointment. I believe on this day the process of replacing old fillings with new ones began. He started with one molar at a time and then after 2-3 molar done successfully. He started doing more than one molars in single appointment.

He started with lower-left molars (one by one) then lower-right (one by one) then upper-right (all three at once) and finally upper-left (all three at once). I know it's too many fillings. I regret not taking good care of my teeth now.

So after the final session when he did upper-left (all three). The middle one of these starting hurting BAD. If while eat the food was crushed under that molar it would generate sharp pain.

My dentist initially thought it's Sinusitis and referred me to a specialist to look for that. The specialist said there's no Sinusitis. So the dentist suggested Root canal.

It was about 2 months ago, but, I'm still having discomfort and slight pain. Moreover, in the past few days I'm feeling extreme hot and cold in another molar next to the operated one. The very last one on upper-left side.

@MadAxeMurderer I truly believe I should have not agreed to replace all of my fillings just because my dentist was saying.

[optimista 4,691]

19 hours ago, HEM said:

I had terrible teeth as a teenager, problems ceased when I was a student (no idea why).

 

It has been observed that the teeth are most susceptible to caries in late adolescence. Dunno why either. But they know this is the case. My problems all stemmed from the few fillings I had in late adolescence which were replaced by butchering criminals in Germany and Switzerland (!) whose first interest was their purse. Had several nightmare experiences - other dentists did not believe what had been done to me - before finding an excellent Hungarian dentist who retired, followed by an excellent Romanian dentist who also retired. In France the dentists are a completely (terribly underpaid) breed altogether. It is about their training.

 

My husband had three perfectly healthy teeth ruined by a German dentist drilling into them "looking for the pain" he could not find. Before he got onto tooth number four hubby suggested an x-ray might be a good idea... and so it was. What dentist does that ? Three teeth demolished because it did not occur to him to take an x-ray. Unforgivable.

 

My stories include teeth devitalised without being filled afterwards but putting on the final crown. A wooden toothpick - yes, you read that right - used as stuffing below a filling. A crown so high they drilled through the enamel and metal so there was a hole in it from day 1. Crown still too high, so they filed milimeters off the healthy tooth above to make space for the crappy crown which fell off a year later to the day revealing a tooth soft as cheese underneath. I could go on... but you get the picture.

 

Sweeping generalisation coming up borne of my and my hubby's, his German family's and my office colleagues' experiences. Here it comes: German-trained dentists. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Eastern European dentists, go there.

[HEM 9,849]

Actually for several years (20?) we had a very good German dentist in our local town (he was recommended to us).

His eyes did not light up with $$$ when he saw my amalgam & solved some areas that were cold-sensitive by applying a plastic covering.

It was a strange feeling to be sad when a dentist retires...

[toBnruG 1,092]

On 11/8/2017, 7:25:23, fredadi said:

So the dentist suggested Root canal.

It was about 2 months ago, but, I'm still having discomfort and slight pain. Moreover, in the past few days I'm feeling extreme hot and cold in another molar next to the operated one.

After 2 months some discomfort and pain is, I think, normal. If it were me I would judge it on how the pain presents itself. Constant pain / soreness I would want to get another checkup. If the pain comes sporadically and is less frequent with time, then I'd give it more time. As for discomfort, something like a pushing or pulling feeling is quite normal and needs time to settle (my latest crown I was certain was the wrong size and was quite irritating for many months, but now fits like a glove and I don't notice it at all).

[optimista 4,691]

23 hours ago, HEM said:

It was a strange feeling to be sad when a dentist retires...

 

Not surprising. I have never been so grateful to anyone as to my dentists (and maybe my obstetrician). The good ones, that is. And not knowing where to go (i,.e. who you can trust) after they retired induced a sense of panic and dread to course through my veins. Really.

 

If I came around again and had the ability I would consider becoming a dentist. You really, really help a lot of people in a big way. A worthwhile career indeed. Failing that I'd marry one!

[catjones 1,246]

8 hours ago, toBnruG said:

After 2 months some discomfort and pain is, I think, normal.

Actually, it's not normal.  Something is wrong.

 

8 hours ago, toBnruG said:

something like a pushing or pulling feeling is quite normal

Likewise, it's not normal.  When you get a new crown it is up to the patient to tell the dentist if the crown is set too high and becomes the point of impact when biting.  All the teeth should do their job and touch as equally as possible so that no one tooth is prominent.  If not, that one tooth is taking all the pressure and will continue to do so until it's ground down correctly.

A good dentist will have you bite down on carbon paper and then see where the teeth meet.

[fraufruit 35,717]

 

 

...

 

[toBnruG 1,092]

On 11/10/2017, 7:02:21, catjones said:

All the teeth should do their job and touch as equally as possible so that no one tooth is prominent.  If not, that one tooth is taking all the pressure and will continue to do so until it's ground down correctly.

Actually if there is pressure between neighbouring teeth then the teeth will realign until the pressure is gone. That's what happened to me (and as I said, it took longer than 2 months). That's how braces work. Doesn't matter how old you are, teeth can always be re-aligned.

[cb6dba 6,244]

Well, all I can say is that if you want to feel like a car being repaired, having your wisdom teeth out are a good way to go.

 

It was quite amusing and went something like this..

N - nurse

D - dentist

M - me

One tooth was around 85% in the jaw, the other around 90% (my guess), none had broken thorough the gums. 

 

N: We are just going to cut you open.

D: The gum, netter to be specific.

M: Uh uh (ok).

Lots of fiddling goes on.

The rest is interspaced by the odd grunt and them using my upper lips for leverage and drilling.

 

N: How was that party you went to last weekend?

D: Oh that, it was the hen party for a friends daughter. We went to a Chippendales show.

N: What was it like?

D: Terrible, not my kind of thing at all. All the performers looked false and slimy and were full of some kind of oil.

N: So not worth it then?

D: No, not really, quite boring.

N: Were the guy good looking?

 

D: You ok there, you are quite quiet?

N: You still with us?

M: Uh uh (yes, I am ok).

N: You would expect that would pick good looking guys.

D: Yeah, but I guess they just want ones that are well built.

N: Oohhh, I wasn't going to ask about that.

 

*laughing* - at this point I realized there was another nurse in the room.

 

N: Yeah, shame none of them looked like Channing Tatum.

D: Yeah, that would have been ok.

N: I would have condsidered taking him home.

D: Grunt.

 

*Ping* - bit of tooth flies out in to the room and bounces about a bit.

N: Can you find that (to 2nd nurse).

D: Yeah, I would have been tempted to take Channing home.

 

D: You still awake?
M: Uh huh (yes).
N: He is very quiet.
N: You still awake?

 

*giggling*

N: Don't worry, all is going well, we are finished one tooth. He seems quite relaxed.

D: This one is a little more buried.

N: Ah look, there is a bit hiding back in the jaw.

 

*Drilling noise with a different smell to tooth drilling*

They carried on chatting about Channing Tatum and then about what seemed info on dentist stuff.

 

Afterwards I sat in the waiting room waiting for the Mrs to turn up. I wanted to get the tram home but no one would let me. 

About an hour later I started looking like Arnie hat a kid with a very large mutant hamster.

Rolling on a few days, my mouth was so swollen my teeth cut into my left cheek so I had  what felt like a mouth ulcer running almost all across my cheek.

This was more painful than anything my jaw threw at me. Took a few days to get rid of that.

Had the stitches out last Tuesday and am back in the real world now.

All in all, I am glad it is a one in a life time experience (for me at least)  and that I was born in a time where we have things to cut out the pain.

 

 

 

 

[HEM 9,849]

Ah - how we miss our old dentist who retired a few years ago.

A small wizzened quiet guy who discussed horses & riding with my wife & flying with me.

Always tried (& suceeded) to save the tooth.

[Wertewandel 6]

It is indeed still possible for a tooth to be painful, post root canal treatment. There can be infections and other issues where the root of the tooth goes into the jawbone. Sometimes extraction is necessary for relief.

 

If a dentist insists you could not possibly be feeling anything as the nerve is gone, he is only half right.

[Buzznut3000 91]

As others noted you should only have a root canal done by a specialist.  Even in that case however, it is not uncommon for some pain to remain.  It may go away over time or you may have to have a second treatment.  I had pain afterword that slowly got better over time.  I know several people that had to have root canals redone.