My husband was in an accident that landed him in the ER. There was damage to one of his teeth, but the dentist wanted to wait two weeks to treat it. By that time there was some tooth discoloration. When he finally got to it there was not any pain, but the dentist did feel some dried blood in there. No treatment was done except to fit him for a temporary crown, which was then replaced by a permanent one a few weeks later. About seven weeks after that, he was in severe pain and we ended up with an emergency dental appointment. The dentist started a root canal treatment and then gave him a 5-day course of amoxicillin, which eased his pain for a few days. However, the pain returned and by the time the root canal was completed about eight days later, he was in massive pain again. A couple of weeks later, my husband is still in pain and barely able to work. This is a man who LOVES his job. I was concerned and took him back to the dentist, who thought the problem must be the tooth next to the one he’d treated. He did a root canal on that tooth. Again, no resolution. What do I do to help my husband? I feel like he’s being tortured.
Agatha
Dear Agatha,
What a horror story! I am sorry that your husband was put through this. I am also a bit flabbergasted by your dentist. He handled this situation wrong from the beginning. I’m going to be blunt and tell you that you are not with the best dentist for your family and you’d be better served looking for a new one.
The fact that the tooth was discolored along with the dried blood he encountered were very clear indications that this tooth needed a root canal treatment. Had he done it then, there would have been much less of a chance of post-operative complications. Why he just crowned a tooth that needed a root canal is beyond me. This is emergency dental care 101.
Next, after your husband had an infection blow up on him, your dentist started the root canal treatment, but only gave him enough antibiotic to last a few days. The antibiotic should have been enough to last until a few days after the treatment was completed. Otherwise you risk a bigger blow up of the infection, which is exactly what happened to your husband. Additionally, amoxicillin is not the ideal antibiotic for a tooth infection.
Then, when your husband is still in pain, he unnecessarily does a root canal on another tooth. At this point, I would get an emergency appointment with an endodontist. They are root canal specialists. Yes, a general dentist can handle this, but you don’t have time to look for another one. This needs to be seen right away. Explain to their office what happened and see if they can get you in that day. If they can’t, they should at the very least provide him with pain relief and an antibiotic to last until they can. By opening the tooth to take the pressure off of the infected pulp, your husband should feel almost immediate relief. Hopefully, this tooth can still be saved.
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