September 2023 - Drake & Wallace Dentistry

I had a tooth that needed a dental crown. A friend knew I was short of funds and suggested I go to Mexico to have the treatment done. I did the math and even with the exhorbitant cost of gasoline, I would save a significant amount of money driving to Mexico for the treatment. I’d even get a day of touring, so it seemed like a win-win at the time. Unfortunately, it has not turned out that way.

I drove down there, spent one day touring and then had the dental crown placed the next day. Two days later it fell off. I called their office and they said I had to come back in. So, I schlepped myself down there again. When I got there they said it feel off because I needed a root canal treatment. That puzzled me because I’d had no pain, plus why didn’t they do that the first time. When I asked why the didn’t do the root canal originally, they said that it is not only required and it saves me money to wait and see if it is necessary. I went ahead and had the root canal treatment despite my reservations.

Within just a few days of doing the root canal treatment and replacing the crown, I started having pain in the tooth with sensitivity to hot and cold. I called their office again and they wanted me to come down for a third trip. Instead, I called around to a local dentist. I just told him I had tooth pain on a recent root canal treatment and asked his advice. He said that the tooth was fractured and needed to be extracted and replaced.

Here’s what I’m thinking. Shouldn’t the dentist in Mexico do the extraction and tooth replacement and then deduct the cost of my root canal treatment and crown from the cost as they ended up being useless?

Tina

Dear Tina,

This is another unfortunate example of the horrors of dental tourism. Your scepticism about the root canal treatment was justified. If you’d had no pain whatsoever then it is unlikely that was needed. Your dentist probably said that to deflect from the fact that he made a mistake.

Next, when he did the root canal treatment, he didn’t do it properly because you ended up in pain. In fact, the pain you are experiencing is due to now needing a root canal treatment.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure that this second dentist is going to be the best dentist for you etiher. Instead, I am going to recommend you get another opinion. Even some fractured teeth can be saved so and he did not recommend trying that. Nor, did he even mention the failed root canal treatment. That has my warning flags up.

Let’s say this tooth did need an extraction and replacement, I would not want you to use the dentist in Mexico again, even though it will be cheaper. He cannot do a simple dental crown or root canal treatment, there is no way he can do a dental implant which is significantly more advanced than anything you’ve had done before. There are serious consequences to a dentist not doing it correctly, including losing part of your jaw. This you will want done by an expert.

Just make sure you get that second opinion before moving forward on anything. That being said, you do need this infection taken care of. There are dentists who will see patients in dental emergencies, such as yours and they can at least get you out of pain while you figure out your next step.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

My husband was in a car accident that caused a concussion and damaged his two front teeth. The dentist wanted to give it a couple of weeks before doing anything. I assumed that would be fine, but over that time period his teeth turned dark. The dentist only felt dried blood and he wasn’t in pain so she just fitted him for temporary crowns. A couple of months later, the tooth blew up. He was in tremendous amount of pain. The dentist gave him five days worth of amoxicillan and then did his root canal treatment a week later. He left still in pain, which I thought was unusual. Shouldn’t a root canal treatment get him out of pain? A couple of weeks later, because he was still in pain she root canaled the tooth next to the one in pain. I didn’t understand that because that wasn’t the tooth hurting. There was still no relief so I took him to see an oral surgeon for a second opinion. He put him on a meddrol pack, which worked for a while, but the pain returned. I asked the dentist to check for other problems. She said there was a black spot on the x-ray but felt it was nothing. He has been suffering for months with no relief. Now he’s back at school trying to teach while this miserable. A teacher’s job is hard enough! Should I just take him to get this tooth extracted? He has a dental crown next to that tooth. With that in mind, could he still get a dental implant to replace the tooth that may need to come out?

Karen

Dear Karen,

What an absolute disaster. Your husband has been put through so much unnecessary pain. Here are the things I think should have been handled differently here.

First, when the tooth was first discolored, that was an indication that the tooth needed a root canal treatment right then. If your dentist would have done that, then the infection would not have set in, causing a dental emergency. The dried blood was also an indication that the root canal treatment was needed. Hhowever, your dentist waits until an infection has time to develop. That leads to the second problem.

It sounds like she gave him 5 days of amoxicillan and then did the root canal in 7 days. There are a couple of things wrong with this. The choice of antibiotic is questionable and not the best for tooth infections. She also did not give him enough antibiotic. He should have had enough to get him a few days past the root canal treatment, not end it before. That just gives the infection time to flare up again and then she seals the tooth, which locks it in there.

The root canal on the adjacent tooth was probably unnecessary and I have no idea why she would be thinking a black spot on an x-ray was nothing to worry about.

Don’t get this tooth extracted yet. It may still be possible to save it. However, I want you to see an endodontist, which is a root canal specialist. He also needs a different antibiotic. Ask for clindamycin, which is the more appropriate option for a tooth infection.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

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