Root Canal/Crown Lengthening/Pocket now I need ROOT AMPUTATION

[thefirstwebdiva]

I have had discomfort ever since I had a permanent crown cemented in last year.  I started out with just a root canal.  While at the dentist a couple of weeks later having work done on other teeth, I asked my dentist to fill the tooth with the root canal.  He said he preferred to wait until it had been a month.  During the waiting period, I broke the tooth on a tootsie pop (should have listened to my mom when she said not to chew hard candy!) and then was sent for a crown lengthening. I never had a any problems with the temporary crown - none.  The instant the permanent crown was cemented in, I started to feel pain.  I was convinced that I had something in between what was left of my tooth and the crown.  That was the sensation I experienced for weeks and finally went back to see my dentist.  He thought, perhaps, there was cement in the gum line, so he had his hygenist do a deep cleaning (ouch!) around the tooth.  She mentioned a that I had a pocket and that I should keep it flossed and clean.

There have been so many times I wanted to pull out this darn crown!!  The other day I felt a protrusion on my gum and called the periodontist.  I have an infection and he determined that I have quite a bit of bone loss and need to have at least one root amputated.  Of course, if I need to have two roots amputated, I will most likely lose the tooth, need a bone graft and an implant.  

The periodontist seems to think I have a cracked root and that is causing the infection; he'll know for sure when he gets in there.  Could the pocket have gotten infected and caused so much damage?  Or, left over infected root from the root canal?  The Endodontist did say that it was one of the toughest roots he had to remove because it curved one way and then the other.  

I am still not happy that I had to go through such an ordeal because my dentist wouldn't fill my tooth that had the root canal when I was sitting in his chair asking him to.  I was completely comfortable with the tooth and was amazed at the lack of pain I had during the root canal - thought the doctor was great.  If it could be determined (and, can it be determined?) that the infection was due to the pocket and the pocket was a result of a poor fitting crown, do I have any recourse with my dentist?

Thank you

[mike1105]

root canal teeth are naturally weak because the've been hollowed out and the tooth becomes brittle when the nerve is reoved. You should have pampered this tooth until it was properly restored. It is certainly NOT bad dentistry to wait a month before investing YOur $ and the dentist's time in restoring a tooth that just had root canal treatment. YOU broke the tooth, not the dentist. As far as the pocket is concerned and recourse, I doubt it. it does not sound like malpractice to me. If I were you I'd find a dentist you are comfortable with,  have your dental problems addressed and then move on in life. BTW-- root amputations leave you with little support for a tooth (that's why God gave it 3 or 4 roots !!!). You're better off with an implant if it is feasable. Fewer and fewer root amputations are done these days-- implants have become the standard of care for most cases.