Root canal and temporary filling help

chanelle2

Hello,

I must've had a filling done in my tooth more than 3 years ago (that's the last time I remember getting any filling done so it could be before that). To make it clear, the tooth is on the bottom half of the mouth, on my left, the one before the last tooth.

Anyway, so I am not a fan of sweets but one day (a month ago) I must have had a sweet and I could feel the sugar coating on my teeth. The next day that tooth in question broke off a bit/chipped. Later on in the day a bit more chipped off. I was gutted, as I felt had I not eaten a sweet that would have been avoided! And I don't normally have them (I ate one).

I went to my dentist who told me I would need a root canal. I booked an appointment and this time I had another dentist. I think she is a trainee dentist as she is young but she said to me a large part of my tooth is missing and it must have had a filling in that tooth beforehand too.

I read on MSE the root canal should not be painful but I remember a large portion of it thinking when am I going to get out of here? It was a horrible feeling. In the end she told me she couldn't do a good job of the root canal so she will refer me to the hospital. She put in a temporary filling, which, about an hour later a part of it fell out (without having eaten anything). When I went to the receptionist after my appointment and informed her I was being referred, she told me the dentist is silly, which to me showed that the dentist wasn't really good at her job and I wasted my time.

So I've had this temporary filling for less than two weeks until I go to the hospital for a consultation, who, I have been told don't really do root canal referrals. I am very scared to eat on that side of the mouth as it feels delicate (the filling). However today some food must have gone to that side (soft food) and the whole filling fell out. Now the part of the tooth that has gone away is the inner part of the tooth, which the tongue touches. It feels really uncomfortable because I feel there is a empty space and when I brushed my tooth it felt really uncomfortable and I had to stop. My referral appointment isn't till Monday. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel comfortable eating or even talking for the next week as my tooth is making me feel delicate as a whole! I know it is unusual, and unlike before the filling it is not hurting but I am fearful for what is left of my tooth.

Sorry for the long post. I had to share it with someone. I'm not sure what to do! I moved to a different city recently and have stuck with my local dentist back at home where my parents live (they normally are okay but unfortunately I had someone inexperienced) and I don't know what to do.

welshdent

I dont think it was very professional of the receptionist to say the dentist was silly. I know none of our staff would even dream of saying anything like that. WADR the receptionist has no ability to gauge the skill of the dentist. Endodontics particularly on molar teeth can challenge even the most experienced practitioner. It is not uncommon for me to have to spend an hour just looking for one canal. That being said from your perspective you should not feel much when it is done as it will be numb. A temporary filling is just that ... temporary. Sometimes they last years and sometimes minutes. It is hard to predict so please do not use its longevity as a measure of the dentists skill. As It happens I think you have been treated very well by being referred when they realised it was beyond their ability. There are a lot that would have packed you off to a private specialist for £5-600.

My advice is to go back to the referring dentist/practice for a new temporary filling before it DOES hurt or the tooth breaks too much.

Toothsmith

I think you need to go back to the dentist to get the temporary filling replaced/looked at.

The one sweet you ate will not have been the cause of all this! 'Sweets' rarely are. More damaging is the sugar that is 'hidden' in practically every ready-made foodstuff. But all that is beside the point.

Go back to the dentist.

chanelle2

welshdent wrote: »

I dont think it was very professional of the receptionist to say the dentist was silly. I know none of our staff would even dream of saying anything like that. WADR the receptionist has no ability to gauge the skill of the dentist. Endodontics particularly on molar teeth can challenge even the most experienced practitioner. It is not uncommon for me to have to spend an hour just looking for one canal. That being said from your perspective you should not feel much when it is done as it will be numb. A temporary filling is just that ... temporary. Sometimes they last years and sometimes minutes. It is hard to predict so please do not use its longevity as a measure of the dentists skill. As It happens I think you have been treated very well by being referred when they realised it was beyond their ability. There are a lot that would have packed you off to a private specialist for £5-600.

My advice is to go back to the referring dentist/practice for a new temporary filling before it DOES hurt or the tooth breaks too much.

Thank you for your input. The receptionist has been working there for years and so has one/two dentists but there have been many that have come and gone. I believe she has had many complaints about her which is why she said that as I know of other people who also didn't get good treatment. But I was very grateful that at least she referred me. I did wonder why I had the pain though, it was almost unbearable.

Toothsmith wrote: »

I think you need to go back to the dentist to get the temporary filling replaced/looked at.

The one sweet you ate will not have been the cause of all this! 'Sweets' rarely are. More damaging is the sugar that is 'hidden' in practically every ready-made foodstuff. But all that is beside the point.

Go back to the dentist.

I won't be going back until Friday night which means Saturday is my next option. Is that leaving it too late?

coldstreamalways

chanelle2 wrote: »

Thank you for your input. The receptionist has been working there for years and so has one/two dentists but there have been many that have come and gone. I believe she has had many complaints about her which is why she said that as I know of other people who also didn't get good treatment. But I was very grateful that at least she referred me. I did wonder why I had the pain though, it was almost unbearable.




I won't be going back until Friday night which means Saturday is my next option. Is that leaving it too late?

How do you know about the complaints? It is still exceptionally unprofessional to comment.

Whether friday/Saturday is too late depends on how worried you are, it is impossible to say whether clinically it would make a difference without seeing you and knowing exactly what was done.

chewynut

From experience, I don't think it would've been the one sweet that did it. A couple of years ago I got my first cavity and like the idiot I am, I ignored it because the thought of dentists makes me break out in a cold sweat. It was only a tiny little thing but a couple of months down the line I was eating rice crispies and it felt like my tooth chipped. Stuck my tongue in it and it kept going in :eek:

Got dragged to the dentist and it turned out my tooth was pretty much hollow inside. It'd rotted away until all it took was a tiny bit of pressure on the surface of the tooth to break through.

I won't tell you the rest because you don't need to know but believe me, if it's aching now, you'll feel much better when it's all over and done with. Take some Rescue Remedy beforehand and somebody to hold your hand if you're as bad with needles as me.

chanelle2

coldstreamalways wrote: »

How do you know about the complaints? It is still exceptionally unprofessional to comment.

Whether friday/Saturday is too late depends on how worried you are, it is impossible to say whether clinically it would make a difference without seeing you and knowing exactly what was done.

The complaints I know of because I know other people who have been for the dentist and booked in with this dentist, but to be fair, I won't comment on that as I don't know what happened.

I am worried that I go to the hospital and they tell me they won't do it. When I rang them to confirm they got my referral, they said they don't normally do root canal referrals. Anyway, I've booked in at my local dentist for Saturday to get another temporary filling. I'm wondering if it will cost me though.

chewynut wrote: »

From experience, I don't think it would've been the one sweet that did it. A couple of years ago I got my first cavity and like the idiot I am, I ignored it because the thought of dentists makes me break out in a cold sweat. It was only a tiny little thing but a couple of months down the line I was eating rice crispies and it felt like my tooth chipped. Stuck my tongue in it and it kept going in :eek:

Got dragged to the dentist and it turned out my tooth was pretty much hollow inside. It'd rotted away until all it took was a tiny bit of pressure on the surface of the tooth to break through.

I won't tell you the rest because you don't need to know but believe me, if it's aching now, you'll feel much better when it's all over and done with. Take some Rescue Remedy beforehand and somebody to hold your hand if you're as bad with needles as me.

That must have been awful. My dentist said (at the beginning of the appointment) that I can get root canal done and it will cost £47 but with the cap it goes up to over £200. I was shocked at the price and certainly can't afford it so I don't know if that will happen again when I go next week. I am curious to know what happened with your tooth though!

chewynut

chanelle2 wrote: »

I am curious to know what happened with your tooth though!

If you're sure you want to know...

The first dentist was a waste of time. I had my anaesthetic and he started to drill and it absolutely killed! My filling ached for ages afterwards and my tooth eventually rotted away even more around the filling. By the time I went to the second dentist, all that remained of my tooth was the shell, like a box. The first dentist had mysteriously vanished and all our records were wrong and things. But anyway. The second dentist had to take the filling out and gave me a new one which didn't hurt as much. He warned me at the time that the remains of my tooth would eventually fall apart because there was so little left.

It was awful when it did, a year or two down the line. I was eating mashed potato and felt this sort of crack and weird suction in my mouth. Oh God, it was horrible :eek: Half of my tooth and filling got sucked out of my gum but the other half of the tooth was still in there like an iceberg waiting for the Titanic so back to the dentist...

I'm not sure what I technically have in there now but it's like a flat filling in my gum. It plugs up the hole where my tooth used to be. :cool:

welshdent

Chanelle the quoted prices are standard nhs prices and when you actually consider how much work is done it's quite cheap. The cost of a crown actually gives you a root filling free

brook2jack

To be honest if it's a back tooth then root filling makes the tooth very brittle and it needs a crown. If you don't have it crowned afterwards then there is a very real chance it will crack and the tooth will need to come out anyway. So if you have the root treatment done start saving for the crown now.

chanelle2

chewynut wrote: »

If you're sure you want to know...

The first dentist was a waste of time. I had my anaesthetic and he started to drill and it absolutely killed! My filling ached for ages afterwards and my tooth eventually rotted away even more around the filling. By the time I went to the second dentist, all that remained of my tooth was the shell, like a box. The first dentist had mysteriously vanished and all our records were wrong and things. But anyway. The second dentist had to take the filling out and gave me a new one which didn't hurt as much. He warned me at the time that the remains of my tooth would eventually fall apart because there was so little left.

It was awful when it did, a year or two down the line. I was eating mashed potato and felt this sort of crack and weird suction in my mouth. Oh God, it was horrible :eek: Half of my tooth and filling got sucked out of my gum but the other half of the tooth was still in there like an iceberg waiting for the Titanic so back to the dentist...

I'm not sure what I technically have in there now but it's like a flat filling in my gum. It plugs up the hole where my tooth used to be. :cool:

That sounds painful! Do you think it has affected the alignment of your other teeth? I suppose I am going to have to pay more for the crown which I understand is standard prices but I really don't have money and I am really hoping something can be done at the hospital.