Experiencing pain in tooth number 19 recently, I went in to see my family dentist just prior to leaving on an important business trip. I explained the situation, and after taking an x-ray, my dentist informed me that I needed a root canal. I was refer erred to the endodontist her office works with, and an appointment was made for the following day. My dentist explained to me that given the time constraint, the procedure might be more painful than normal since the antibiotic she prescribed wouldn't have much time to knock down the inflammation before the root canal procedure was to take place.
The next day, while wrapping up the root canal, the endodontist informed me that he could see a significant crack in the tooth. He cautioned me that I would need to have my dentist install a crown on the tooth immediately. I told the endodontist that I was leaving the next day on a two week business trip. The endodontist further expressed his concern, warning me to be extremely careful in chewing food prior to having the crown installed. I left his office worried that I had made a mistake in scheduling the root canal before the trip. I don't know a lot about this stuff, but it seemed pretty clear to me that the strength of the cracked tooth had just been further compromised by the root canal procedure, and now I had to leave on this important trip with just a temporary filling.
Ten days in, I was having dinner in my hotel room and felt an intense pain in the tooth. Fearing the worst, I made an appointment with my dentist as soon as I returned home. Sure enough, my dentist informed me that my tooth had cracked apart and would now need to be extracted. Since the adjoining teeth are both "virgin," as are the rest of my teeth (I'm 51 and this is the only tooth I have ever had drilled and filled), she recommended that I follow the extraction with a very costly and involved implant, rather than having a bridge made.
I can't help but feel that I was given a very poorly thought out treatment plan in advance of my trip.
In retrospect, it would seem that a much better approach would have been to knock down the inflammation with antibiotics to get me through the trip, then schedule the root canal upon my return when a crown could have been subsequently installed in a timely manner, as in a few days rather than weeks. Instead I was allowed to go out on the road with a seriously compromised tooth, and I am now facing months of surgery and it is going to cost me many thousands of dollars in out of pocket expense.
I'm sitting here tonight with the cracked apart, root-canaled tooth still in my mouth and I'm super bummed over what to me seems like a highly avoidable outcome.
When I explained my thinking to my dentist... that I should have instead just taken the antibiotic and waited until my return to have the procedure... she did not disagree. All that she said was, "I'm sorry." Oh, and she did also mention that another doctor in her office could do the implant and that it would cost between 3 and 5 thousand dollars.
Am I wrong in thinking that my family dentist erred in sending me out for a root canal the day before I was to leave on a long trip?