Root Canal Treatment Disaster

My husband was in an accident that led to some bodily injuries as well as two injured teeth. After we were finished with the ER, we scheduled an emergency appointment with our dentist. She decided not to do anything for two weeks. By the end of that time period, the right front tooth began to discolor, though my husband was not in any pain from the tooth. She said that she didn’t feel anything except dried blood and fitted him for a temporary crown. The permanent one was scheduled for three weeks later.

That went fine, but a couple of months later, he was in massive pain. We scheduled an emergency root canal treatment. She prescribed him a 5 day course of antibiotics and then finished up the root canal a week and a half later. He only had about 24 hours of relief from the pain and even after the root canal was completed he was still hurting.

A week later there was still pain and she asked us to give it some more time. We gave it another week and then I couldn’t stand seeing him in so much pain. Plus, the area right beside his nose was starting to swell. Our dentist couldn’t figure out why the tooth was still hurting and decided it was probably deferred pain and that now the left tooth needed a root canal. She did that. I think that tooth was actually fine. The problem we have is my husband is still in massive pain. What do we do?

Carolyn B.

Dear Carolyn,

I want you to call an endodontist right away and schedule an emergency appointment. These are root canal specialists. Your dentist did a lot of things wrong that led to this and I don’t want a dental emergency to turn into something life threatening.

What Went Wrong?

First, when the tooth first started having discoloration after trauma to the tooth, that was a clear sign that the tooth needed a root canal treatment. She should have done it right then. When she felt the dried blood, should have been a clincher. I don’t know what she was thinking. Dried blood is another clear sign. This one saying the tissue inside the tooth has died. Had she done the root canal treatment at that point, things would have been much simpler.

Second, the antibiotic was handled badly. If I accurately understand what you wrote, your husband was provided with 5 days of antibiotics, but his root canal was not completed until at least 9 days later. Is that correct? What she should have done is provide enough antibiotics for him to get through the completion of the antibiotic and possibly even a couple of extra days. By stopping the medication before the treatment was completed, she put your husband at a much greater risk of the infection flaring up. I also question what antibiotic she gave him because his relief was only 24 hours. A typical antibiotic for a tooth infection would be something like clindamycin. This sounds more like she gave him something like amoxicillin or penicillin, neither of which would be a good choice in this particular case.

The fact that she did a root canal treatment on the adjacent tooth without knowing what was actually the problem, along with everything else that happened in this case, makes me question whether you should stay with this dentist. I think you will be better served elsewhere. Please call an endodontist right away and tell them what you told me. They should schedule you an emergency appointment as well as get him on the right medication. I don’t think you will, but please don’t put this off. People still die from tooth infections I’m sorry your husband had to endure all of this.

This blog is brought to you by San Antonio Endodontist Dr. Scott Janse.