Ow my tooth! A molar story

[gothique]

About 11 years ago I had a filling put in on molar #1 (last molar on upper left side). Well this past Monday I was eating and a small piece broke off. I had no pain and made an appointment with my dentist for Wednesday. Well when he started to remove the filling he was in shock. He said that my tooth was almost all filling and the part that actually broke was what little was left of my old tooth and that the filling went deep into my gums. Halfway into the procedure I was experiencing slight pain and sensitivity with the air and water. He decided that it would be best to perform a root canal on the tooth. When he was doing the root canal he again was surprised (too many surprises with any doc is NOT a good thing) by how long my molar was. He said it was 24 (something) deep and almost in my sinus cavity.

After all was said and done and the temp crown placed on he gave me a script of Clindomycin (which was later changed to Azithromycin due to stomach issues) and Vicodin and also told me to take Ibuprofen for the swelling. He said I will experience some slight throbbing because of the root canal but it will die down within a day or two. Well that night and the next day I was in bad pain. Throbbing and a dull ache all at once with occasional sharp shooting pain. I went in as an emergency this past Friday and he said he was going to do an unconventional thing and remove the temporary crown as to let the gums heal since he had to drill and scrape deep under them to remove that filling. Well my gums sang hallelujah when he did but only until later that night. Then the same pain started all over again!

I called the dentist's office back on Saturday morning and told the receptionist I was in pain and she just said that I had to wait 72 hours for the antibiotics to kick in for relief and if there was any cancellations she would call me in for Monday. Saturday night I went to dinner and my tooth was actually feeling better and I was feeling happy about it until I fell asleep on my couch on that side of my mouth. I woke up after 20 minutes with the same throbbing pain and dull ache!

What is causing this distress? I have had 5 root canals before and never had pain like this! I know the root is dead because the tooth has NO sensitivity whatsoever. It's not the tooth in front of it because that has a root canal as well. My gums are really swollen around the tooth and I have been doing warm salt water rinses and very very light brushing and flossing to keep food particles away. If I get a Q-tip and rub the gum I don't feel any pain when I do this either. I don't have pus, drainage or bad breath either.

So anyone got any suggestions? Is my tooth just traumatized from all the stress it was under? Can swollen gums hurt this much? I have an appointment Wednesday for the 2nd part of the root canal (put in posts and perm filling) and I hope it gets better by then.

[sijanise]

oh my gosh, when you find an answer update this post! I had the same thing. i had a huge filing crack and i had a root canal and crown done 3 weeks ago and the tooth is giving me so much trouble! a week after the root canal i woke up in the WORST PAIN EVER! this is on my #5 upper 1st premolar. I have had a knot in my cheek at where ya think the tip of the root would be and it hurts to touch the outside of my face becasue of it! Well i went back to the dds in agony and he said "the root canal looked good" and didnt say anything about abcesss but did say i must have had a chronic infection which didnt hurt that went accute due to the root canal being done. he put me and prednisone and penicillin for a week. its been a week since ive gone off the meds and the pain is slowly returning as massive amounts of pressure in the tooth which feels like the tooth is gonna pop or worse when i lean or bend forward. i called the dds today and once again he said "its normal, give it more time to settle down"...really??????? Ive had 3 root canals and they were gems compared to this, no pain afterwards thats why im like why is there still pain.

i feel like my dds has in his mind ":root canal done...looked fine..gave her meds for infection which should be gone...shes being paraniod"...and maybe i am but im calling and endonist tomorrow and gonna try to get in for xrays...i know my body and it just doesnt seem right...i think i have a failed root canal or an abcess still.

my mom had a root canal done in the same tooth as yours. the infection opened into her sinuses and she had to go to a oral surgeon who did root canal surgery, some procedure that starts with an A. they has to open up her root canal and open up her gun and cut out the infection and do a bone graft around her sinus cavity...she ended up in the hospital due to infection.

all i now is teeth are a pain in the A$$...why can we be like sharks and just get new ones

[Cycl3Chick]

or rather, see another endo for a second opinion before the oral surgeon, the surgeon cant treat a root canal but they would pull the tooth for you.

[saynono]

Go see an endodontist if it a general dentist who is doing the work.  If it is an endo who is doing the work, go see an Oral Surgeon.