In calgary.general m3nn0_s4r@salmahayeksknockers.edu wrote:

On the one hand, dental work is never 100% certain. Lots of things can go
wrong, even if fair precautions are taken. On the other hand, this is
starting to sound like poor work on the part of the dentist.

Ask the dentist why this happened. I had several problems with my dentist
in Calgary, and am now looking for someone else to fix a root canal he
botched. He also botched a root canal on my wife, and paid for the repair
work that time.

Colin

On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:35:21 GMT, m3nn0_s4r@salmahayeksknockers.edu
wrote in message <Z7XVf.10197$B_1.103@edtnps89>

I hope you won't be going back to the same dentist for the root canal.
You might consider getting a second opinion.

Unfortunately it does happen and the
dentist has no control or little control of why.

Sorry ....

Joel

m3nn0_s4r@salmahayeksknockers.edu Wrote:

--
Joel34

I've got a great dentist and during a recent filling removal / cap,
they were upfront about the possibility of a root canal.   He / she
should have mentioned that there was a possibility of a root canal.

I was also told that if the filling is very deep, once it's removed
bacteria "floods" in immediately and heightens the odds of a root
canal as infection can occur. This isn't always the case,  but can
happen...

Tooth pain sucks,  sorry to hear about it.  I found good ol' Advil
was better suited than a more "potent" pain killer.

Almost the exact same thing happened to me... the first dentist replaced the
old filling with a white inlay.  That one didn't fit properly, eventually
causing me to crack the tooth by biting down wrong while chewing because the
teeth didn't 'fit' together.

The new dentist told me I would need a crown because of the cracked tooth.
I left it, for a few months, and eventually the cracked part of the tooth
fell off...below the gumline.  The same new dentist said he could now fill
it.  He did a 3 surface filling and charged me $150, which I thought was
very reasonable.  So now that tooth has two fillings beside each other.  He
really made sure to make the teeth 'fit' after the filling, since this is
what caused the problem in the first place.

Now the tooth is fine...no pain, no chewing problems.  Eventually I might
need a crown if it cracks again.  He told me that gold is better than white,
because it is flexible, and softer.  For a back molar, I would probably go
with that.  He told me around $800 for a gold crown.

This new dentist is awesome....not a fancy office, but he really has a great
manner, and is also great with kids.

Dr. Pete Rendek.  Elbow and Heritage.

Bernie

If the tooth was bugging her to begin with it might have had a pulpal
problem, in which case it would have needed a root canal from the
beginning.  The dentist should have tested the tooth and looked
carefully at a complete x-ray of the tooth to determine if it had a
pulp problem. The dentist might have removed the filling, then maybe
removed cavities under the filling, and the cavity might have been big
enough to expose the pulp, which often necessitates a root canal.
Prior to placing a final restoration like a gold inlay in the tooth,
the dentist might have benefitted from putting a temporary filling
first and seeing if the tooth was pain-free.

Of course, if the problem is that the inlay was too high, that can
cause symptoms similar to a tooth with pulpal problems requiring a root
canal.  The solution is to ground down the inlay, not the opposing
tooth.  It is considered inappropriate, academically speaking, for a
dentist to grind down an opposing tooth just to make a new filling fit.
The dentist might not have taken a perfect impression of the tooth, so
that the inlay made from the tooth was too high.  Or the laboratory
that made the inlay might have made it too high.  Or there was too much
cement under the inlay so it was too high, or the cement expanded as it
set, making the inlay rise.  If the tooth bite is okay but the tooth
still hurts, it is best to do root canal and crown.  Sometimes dentists
are too lazy and impatient to adjust the bite perfectly, or are afraid
of grinding down the inlay so much that the inlay will need to be
replaced.  That would cost a remake which is $$$.  Often, if the
dentist felt the need to grind the opposing tooth, the dentist might
have felt that the inlay could be ground down no further, which might
suggest  that the inlay was way to high to begin with.

Also, if the dentist is using an acidic cement like zinc phosphate
cement to place the inlay, that can cause sensitivity in the short
term.

This is all speculation.  Impossible to tell what is really going on
without seeing the case.  may want to get a second opinion from another
dentist.