:confused: Has any one EVER heard of a dentist leaving a piece of a broken drill bit in a root canal and sealing it in? Recentely, I had to have an apconectomy done because there was an abscess where a root canal had been done. The oral surgeon found a piece of a drill bit in the work the other dentist has done. Now I wonder if that drill bit caused the abscess, which in turned caused me thousands of dollars (and let's don't even get into the pain it's caused) to have fixed! I still have moderate pain in that tooth, and have been told to expect this pain for anywhere from 2-3 months! Does any one know anything about this?
Thank you.

I have been waiting to write to see if anyone had your same experience, but no one did so I will write to you. I am so sorry you went through all of this. While I have never had that happen, I would certainly think that a piece of metal left in your tooth could cause an infection later on. Leaving that in your tooth is a pretty scary thought! I have had several apconectomies done and the pain or ache did not last two or three months. You should be feeling better very soon. Hope you are feeling better.

glowing4

I have had drill bits break during fillings but never heard of the broken piece left in a tooth - what happened to good old fashioned irrigation and suction when debriding a tooth just before it is filled. They do the same with rc's - make sure the tooth is clear of all debris before sealing it. I would file a complaint against the dr - he should be responsible for your 2nd procedure - hopefully the OS will be willing to put in writing what he found - sometimes dentists are reulctant to speak negatively about a colleague even when they know there was negligence.

sounds like you have a law suit on your hands

You don't have a case against the dentist because the instrument broke, but you do have a case if he did not inform you that it broke and did not record it in your notes.
Incidentally, in the UK dentists have been told not to re-use endodontic instruments owing to possible transmission of CJD. It could also lessen the possibility of fracture through metal fatigue.