Tag Archives: failed root canal treatment

Dental Emergency

Antibiotic for a Tooth Infection?

I had a root canal treatment a few years ago. My dentist put in a temporary filling. I think I was supposed to go back in for a dental crown or something, but I don’t like dentists (no offense). When they didn’t call me back, I didn’t remind them. After a while the tooth started hurting. It’s got another infection. Because I already had the root canal treatment, I think I would just need an antibiotic to clear this up, right? Which one?

Cameron

Dear Cameron,

A woman holding her jaw in pain

If your root canal was done successfully, then there wouldn’t be any pain to your tooth. Either you are dealing with a failed root canal treatment or there is referred pain from another tooth infection. What you don’t want to do is just take antibiotics. These do not cure a tooth infection. All they can do is hold it at bay for a short time. Once the antibiotics run out, the infection will flare back up.

If it is the same tooth, you have two choices. Your first choice is to get a root canal re-treatmnet. There is still a chance that the second root canal will fail. If there is a part of the canal that can’t be reached, then it won’t matter how many times it is done.

A second option is to have the tooth extracted. This will definitely take care of the infection, but it also means replacing the tooth. My recommendation in that case would be a dental implant.

What you don’t want to do is leave it alone and allow it to blow up into another tooth infection. This can quickly turn into a dental emergency.

This blog is brought to you by a skilled Gilbert Dentist Dr. Matt Roper.

Dental Emergency

My Husband is Being Tortured By Our Dentist

My husband had an accident that caused some damage to his chin and teeth, as well as gave him a concussion. We took him to the ER, then the dentist the next morning. The dentist said everything needed some time to calm down. When it did, one of his teeth started turning dark. Fortunately, he wasn’t in pain. Our dentist said she didn’t see anything and only felt dried blood. From there, she gave him a dental crown. Fast forward a couple of months and he was in severe pain. Our dentist then gave him an emergency root canal treatment. She prescribed him 5 days worth of antibiotics then finished up his root canal treatment a week later. Even after the root canal treatment, the pain continued. The dentist provided him with no pain relief medication. After another week she decided to root canal the tooth next to the one she previously treated. That also did nothing. My husband is in absolute agony and I feel like her lack of caring is border line torture. What should we do to get him the help he needs?

Lisa

Dear Lisa,

Man in pain, grabbing his cheek in need of emergency dental care.

Your husband has been through so much and I can tell how much you care about him. Your dentist has made a couple of big mistakes here. First, when the tooth first started to discolor, it needed a root canal treatment right then. I don’t know why your dentist didn’t do one. It makes no sense to me. The dried blood should have been a giant hint that the tooth was dead, even if the discoloration didn’t tell her that.

Next is the way she handled the root canal treatment itself. The way she provided only five days of antibiotics, but waited seven days to close the root canal tells me that she doesn’t understand how these infections work at all. By allowing the antibiotics to run out, she also allowed the infection to flair back up, then she closed the tooth. No wonder your husband was in pain. She never got rid of the infection and closed it up inside the tooth. Then, she did a useless treatment on the adjacent tooth.

Your husband is not being served well by this dentist. I highly recommend that you call an endodontist first thing in the morning. They are root canal specialists and can get this treated correctly. When you call, let them know what has happened so they can get him some antibiotics and pain relief while they get his appointment ready. I’m certain they’ll schedule him an emergency appointment.

This blog is brought to you by Gilbert Dentist Dr. Matt Roper.