Anyone Here a Dentist

Go see another dentist. Get a 2nd opinion.

Someone poking your mouth with sharp things hurt? My, you must be some kind of genius! Do you write for the National Review?

Americans fear pain more than anything on the entire planet.

Sounds like you could have "cavitation," which is bone decay deep in the jaw bone and often caused through removal of wisdom teeth and occur in any of the 4 quadrents. A 3D xray is used to confirm this and a dentist who specializes in the surgery to go in a clean out the decay. Hopefully this is not what you are dealing with, but might be worth exploring further.

How long do the episodes of pain last? Is it ever stabbing, shocklike or electrical? Do you get a complete response to narcotics/ibuprofen or do those just mask the pain a little? What else triggers the pain?

I cannot say exactly what triggers the pain, but mostly cold foods and sleep, apparently. It seems to be worse when I am trying to sleep. Episodes seem to last about 30 minutes or so, but the ache is always there, even if it is very dull.

No, it is not stabbing, shock-like or electrical. It is like an ache. It also hurts to open my jaw more than a little, like in the hinge of my mouth.

Almost like the tooth is sending an ache down into my jaw. A strong ache.

The ibu just masks the pain, it doesn't seem to really do much else. I don't like taking it, but otherwise it just hurts too much.

To the other posters - i got my wisdom teeth out when i was like 14, so that was 16 years ago. This is a direct result of the crown procedure I had done last Thursday.

To the guy who hates Americans. I don't really know what to tell you...

I usually have the dentist put me under for any serious stuff.

Last time I woke up, my fly was open and shirt was buttoned up, but one button off. I KNOW I did not go in that way.

What should I do?

while i sympathize with your plight, and this sounds like an instance in which you, if nothing else, need a narcotic, i am pleased to know you dentist is not handing out scripts all willy nilly. a crown should not typically require something beyond an OTC. but, yeah, in the case of something that was done to a nerve or muscle, some percs might be nice.

It sounds like you have irreversible pulpitis. This is an inflammation of the nerve (pulp) of the tooth. It can result from having any traumatic procedure done to a tooth including a crown preparation especially if the tooth has already been weakened by a large filling. The nerve becomes hypersensitive, especially to cold stimuli which result in a lingering pain. It can also be worse at night due to the increase in blood pressure to the head when you lie down. If it is a lower tooth, the pain can irritate the inferior alveolar nerve and cause pain to radiate up the side of the face to the ear.

Bottom line: you need a root canal done to the tooth.

POD.

Sloetry, thanks for the info.

This was one of the things the Dentist said it could be, but when I went back in, he said it was unlikely b/c when he tapped on the tooth (temporary cover until I get crown), it did not hurt.

He said the pulpitis would result in an extremely sensitive tooth, which I do not have.

At this point I think he is a douche, so if you feel he is wrong, I'll take your word for it and call him back.

If your dentist refuses to acknowledge you have a problem, go somewhere else. You don't want the tooth to die and you shouldn't have to live in pain. He sounds like a bad dentist, anyway.

Did he do a cold test? This is where he takes a cotton swab sprayed with refrigerant and touches it to the tooth. This is the diagnostic test for irreversible pulpitis. If the pain last for more than a few seconds, you have irreversible pulpitis. You could probably do it yourself with an ice cube. Test a few teeth on the opposite side first to get a "normal" reaction and then see if the crowned tooth reacts differently.

Tapping on the tooth is a test for acute periapical inflammation, and usually happens after the nerve has died and become infected.

I will do the test when I get home tonight.

I thought this was a good dentist, but apparently he is awful. WTF?

I am scheduled to have another cavity filled when my crown comes in (2 weeks). No way in hell I am letting him do that work on me now.

WTF, so he f***s up my mouth and now I have to pay him a grand and still go somehwere else to have them give me a root canal. Thanks a lot asshole.

I am sorry, but I am pissed off.

NRR Misery Mouth wrote:

I will do the test when I get home tonight.

I thought this was a good dentist, but apparently he is awful. WTF?

I am scheduled to have another cavity filled when my crown comes in (2 weeks). No way in hell I am letting him do that work on me now.

WTF, so he f***s up my mouth and now I have to pay him a grand and still go somehwere else to have them give me a root canal. Thanks a lot asshole.

I am sorry, but I am pissed off.

I would be pissed off too, but it doesn't change the cost. The should be able to pop the crown off and give you the root canal. Crowns are $1000+ and root canals can easily exceed that (especially at an endodontist).

I think my last root canal was $1400 and crown was $1100. Dental insurance only covers 50% of both. My endodontist required payment up front (after calling dental insurance to figure out what I would be responsible for).

But after two root canals from an endodontist and two from my dentist, I'd much rather pay for the endodontist. They are experts in this shit, they do it all day and it's very routine for them, even the complicated/tricky cases that flummox your regular dentist.

He hit the nerve when he performed the questionable "necessary repair".

You need a root canal. I'm the king of root canals - the dentist plans a new exotic vacation every time I enter his office.

So why wouldn't he tell me that?

Seriously, this sounds like something he would be telling me?

Why hasn't he put this together himself if it is clear to so many of you?

This guy thinks I am a f***ing masochist.

He didn't tell you he "hit the nerve" because chances are he didn't. "Hit the nerve" is layman's terminology used to explain to the typical person why their tooth hurts after getting work done. In actuality, it was the combined trauma of the previously done large filling and the trauma of preparing the tooth for a crown that caused your nerve to start dying. It happens in about 5% of all crowned teeth. This percent goes up the more other work has been done on the tooth. The dentist can't look down and see where he hit the nerve because no nerve is exposed.

If he actually hit the nerve, it was more likely during the injection to get the tooth numb. You probably would have felt an electrical like shock shooting down either your jaw or your tongue. The typical symptom would be a lingering numbness to that side of your jaw.

Non-college wrote:

I usually have the dentist put me under for any serious stuff.

Last time I woke up, my fly was open and shirt was buttoned up, but one button off. I KNOW I did not go in that way.

What should I do?

Oh sure, it starts off with a few slurs - "Hey, DENTY" - next, you'll be saying they should have their owns schools!

I am calling that SOB tomorrow and finding out a way to get even. This is bullshit. I am in misery for a freaking week and get my diagnosis on f***ing LetsRun.

f***ing dentist.

I would kick his ass if he weren't such a sorry piece of trash.