Root Canal Trouble - Dental Health Message Board

Robb · 11-28-2003, 11:51 AM

Had 2 root canals done about 10 days ago and have had nothing but pain since...while its gotten slightly better I did call the endo and he said to give it at least another week to "settle down". I originally had some infection/pain in one of the teeth from a deep cavity which was my reason for getting them done. While the specific teeth dont hurt as much I'm left with a general dull ache on the left side of my jaw and when I exercise/run/get heartrate up I still feel some throbbing in one of the teeth. Was wondering if anyone else has had similar results and how things turned out. Im currently on 2 weeks of antibiotics and fortunately the pain responds to 400 mg of motrin which I continue to take.

Thanks in advance...!

tryingtofeelgood · 11-30-2003, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robb

Had 2 root canals done about 10 days ago and have had nothing but pain since...while its gotten slightly better I did call the endo and he said to give it at least another week to "settle down". I originally had some infection/pain in one of the teeth from a deep cavity which was my reason for getting them done. While the specific teeth dont hurt as much I'm left with a general dull ache on the left side of my jaw and when I exercise/run/get heartrate up I still feel some throbbing in one of the teeth. Was wondering if anyone else has had similar results and how things turned out. Im currently on 2 weeks of antibiotics and fortunately the pain responds to 400 mg of motrin which I continue to take.

Thanks in advance...!

Perhaps you should seek the advice of an oral surgeon. Sometimes roots are not always cleaned correctly and/or there are some within the gum line - these can be reached by an Apicoectomy. I would talk to your endo again because the pain you are in sounds unusual. You should be feeling better by now. Please update us.

szsv · 12-01-2003, 04:55 PM

[QUOTE=Robb]Had 2 root canals done about 10 days ago and have had nothing but pain since...while its gotten slightly better I did call the endo and he said to give it at least another week to "settle down"..............

I am having a similar problem.

I had my first root canal in July. The Endo opened the canals, which were infected and calcified, placed medication in them. I returned in 3 weeks. He removed the medication and filled the canals and placed a temp filling. All that sounds pretty normal, except that I never was without pain throughout the process. I was on antibiotics. I told him about the pain, but he insisted everything was OK. During the last procedure, he was talking to one of his assistants, who was standing in the door, another assistant was working with him. His voice inflection changed; I opened my eyes to see what was going on. While he had his left hand working in my mouth, he was holding the phone with his right hand, talking about some business deal. I made eye contact and frowned at him, the best I could do under the circumstances, and he only looked away. The conversation went on for about 2 min......a long time it seemed. He did not changed gloves, just put the phone down and proceeded to work on my root canal. He then had his assistant do the temporary filling, never even looking at it. He X-rayed the Root Canal and said it was fine, then went to lunch.

The next day, I went back to my regular dentist, who is new to me because we moved, and had him grind off a high spot, telling him what happened with the Endo and ask that he NOT refer this Endo to anyone else. My dentist said I could expect continued pain because of the amount of trauma to the tooth.

I had a temp crown placed on the tooth in Sept. - 2 1/2 mos. after the 1st Root Canal procedure. The tooth still ached. I got the same response from the dentist, pain was caused by trauma to the tooth and gum.

I had a permanent crown placed on the tooth 3 weeks after the temp. crown. Repeat of above statement. 6 weeks later, I had some swelling in my jaw and called the dentist. He had me come in, took an X-ray, ground off a tiny high spot on the crown. Said there was no infection and the pain was caused by trauma to the tooth and gum.

I cannot chew on that tooth, except for soft food. The tooth has a dull ache most of the time. I will NOT go back to the Endo. The dentist keeps giving me the same story. I've never had a root canal and have no idea what is supposed to happen, but anyone I've talked to says they did not have pain that lasted 5 months. My pain is actually worse now than before the root canal.

Has anyone had THIS experience and is it really just the trauma to the tooth and gum that would last this long and cause continuing pain?

DizzyDreamer · 12-02-2003, 06:50 AM

I feel your pain, and I really do mean, I feel your pain. I went to my Dentist 2 years ago for a crown on a back top molar. After the preparation for the crown, I was in extreme pain and had constant throbbing in the tooth. I went on like that for months. Finally, my Dentist decided he would do a root canal on the tooth, since he thought that maybe the nerve had been somehow damaged when he did the crown prep. More pain after the root canal. I was back in that office at least twice a week for the next year. He even re did the root canal and still that did not help. Now, we get to the really great part. He decides that he needs to pull the tooth, clean out all the canals while it is out of my mouth and then implant it back in the socket. OK, I went along with this since my only other option was to lose the tooth. I had consulted a couple of Endo's and they could not find any reason for my pain, they said my Dentist had done an excellent job on the root canal.
So, the tooth gets pulled, my Dentist finds an absess on it, he cleans it, and he puts it back in the socket. Extreme pain for a few days. But then, slowly, it begins to get better. So, a few months later I go back to have it re crowned. Now I am in pain again. There is no feeling at all in that tooth if I touch it, you could bang on it as hard as you could and I would not feel it at all. But WHY DO I STILL HAVE PAIN?? I have been back to my Dentist again and also back to the Endo. They tell me there is nothing wrong. I have some throbbing in that area and the tooth in front of it when I do any type of activity, and the pain is almost always there but I can't tell where it is coming from. There is nothing wrong with the teeth in front of or behind that tooth. I am living on Tylenol and Advil. I don't want to have this tooth pulled if I don't need to. I don't know what to do next. It has now been 2 years since this whole thing started.

Tick Tock · 12-02-2003, 10:26 AM

I've had 3 teeth done and all but 1 took months for the pain to subside. I too used Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, etc.). The longest mine took to completely heal was about 5-6 months. They did get progressively better over that period of time. Hang in there!