Dr. Hall,<\/p>\n
I was having EXTREME pain and sensitivity all of sudden in my lower left side of my mouth and I went to the dentist. She evaluated the two possible teeth (both of which were somewhat painful to cold and tapping) and stated that one of them (if not both) needed a root canal. So I went and had two root canals (#18 & #20) at the recommendation of the endodontist. Everything went well except that even after a few days, I still experienced serious sensitivity and discomfort, but in a DIFFERENT tooth (#22). I went back to the endodontist for a checkup and he confirmed that #18 & #20 were fine and to go back to my regular dentist to check #22. I am very worried that I did not need the other root canals and that they were just sensitive because of the massive filings and previous work done a few years ago. The tooth that is still hurting me (#22) has had no work done except a superficial filling (white amalgram or whatever its called) a while back. Is it possible that this tooth was the actual problem and the others were only hurting when banged or touched with cold spray because of major fillings? This tooth (#22) hurts when I tap it with my toothbrush or drink anything cold or hot, and also if cold air rushes across it. The pain is not as bad as before the root canals, but now I have less nerves to feel the pain \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n
PLEASE advise, as my insurance is maxed out and now I feel like I have been taken advantage of with no recourse. I am using a sensitive toothpaste in the meantime and trying to avoid anything too cold or hot.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n
Melissa, It could be that they both needed root canals. Your teeth shouldn’t be sensitive after dental work for more than a couple of months. But then again, maybe they didn’t. But it sounded like even your dentist who actually examined the teeth wasn’t completely sure.<\/p>\n When teeth get to hurting and the pain is hard to localize, the more time that goes by the more clear it is which tooth is causing the problem, or what the problem is. Eventually they abscess and then it’s usually pretty clear on the x-ray where the problem is.<\/p>\n I’d advise getting another opinion from another dentist.<\/p>\n Dr. Hall<\/p>\n Related links:
\nIt’s hard to tell, sometimes, which tooth is causing a problem. Your diagnosis from the start was iffy – “two possible teeth … that needed a root canal<\/a>.”<\/p>\n
\nPain after root canal
\n<\/a>Read more about toothaches<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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