Pain after Root Canal

[kas1950]

I had a root canal in April by  endodonist. Crown was put in by the dentist.
I continued to have pain.
Went back to endodonist after 2 weeks and he said take ibuprofen.
The pain eventually went down. But-
With pain coming and going over the next 6 months. I did the following
- went back to dentist a couple of times and had the crown ground down more.
- went back to endodonist and he said it was the crown and ground it down again.

Finally, 10 days ago the pain got so bad that I called the dentist and he recommended a consultation with another endodonist. I did that and he recommended first to have a retreatment. (cost another $100 for that advice)
I went back to the original endondonist. He started the retreatment. I got no novacaine or pain relief as he said I would not need any. He drilled into the crown. He then started yelling and said he found the problem and it was not his fault- The cotton that he put in was not removed and filled by the dentist that did the crown. I got complaining from him throughout the procedure about it being someone else's fault and he had to be renumerated for this. I had several times that I was in intense pain and yelled that it hurt. But he never gave me anything for pain.
After the procedure I went to my dentist who admitted that he must have left the cotton in but that alone would not cause the continued pain from the tooth.
Since the retreatment 3 days ago I still have intense pain.
My questions-
1. Would leaving the cotton in cause this continued pain?
2. Would it be normal to do anyting for pain prior to a retreatment?

[Jerome Bogin, D.D.S.]

I do not think the cotton had anything to do with the tooth needing retreatment.I see no reason why you should not have had some local anesthesia. I also think that the communication between the professionals was very poor. I think their egos are getting in the way and the concern for the patient is suffering.

[mike1105]

the cotton is not the cause for your pain, although it definitely should have been removed when the post or buildup was done. If you did not have a post or a buildup done, then that means that temporary filling material and the cotton ball were left in ypour tooth by your general dentist, which is not up to the standard of care--this may cause the crown to fail, but it is probably not the source of your pain. In my opinion, anesthetic should be used for retreatments of root canals.
The pain could be from the crown being high, from the root canal procedure (root canals are not 100% successful) or something else. like a periodontal (gum/bone) problem or a fracture in the tooth (which is not always evident on a film).  Good luck.