Any resident Dentists here? In severe pain!!!
Discussion
Hi all. A routine filling was attempted today ( about 2 hours ago) on my upper tooth; after drilling away the decay the dentist said the decay had gone too far and nerves are exposed. The dentist advised that I require a root canal filling.
I was told I need to come back at a later date, in the mean time the dentist said she'd, "packed the cavity with a steroid and closed it with a temporary filling."
The an anaesthetic has more or less worn off and I am in completely agony. Intuitively, I'm guessing the temporary filling has been placed too close to the nerve and that's why I'm getting this severe nerve pain. Analgesia isn't touching the pain- I know nerve pain is difficult to manage.
What shall I do? Is it worth seeing an emergency dentist this evening? What will they do? Logical thing seems to be to take the nerve out?
Any advice/ suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
I was told I need to come back at a later date, in the mean time the dentist said she'd, "packed the cavity with a steroid and closed it with a temporary filling."
The an anaesthetic has more or less worn off and I am in completely agony. Intuitively, I'm guessing the temporary filling has been placed too close to the nerve and that's why I'm getting this severe nerve pain. Analgesia isn't touching the pain- I know nerve pain is difficult to manage.
What shall I do? Is it worth seeing an emergency dentist this evening? What will they do? Logical thing seems to be to take the nerve out?
Any advice/ suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
If you're in severe unrelenting pain which over the counter painkillers are not even touching (remember you can take both paracetamol and ibuprofen together, or better yet co-codamol and ibuprofen), then yes it is absolutely appropriate to see an OOH dentist, that is exactly what they're for.
No idea what they might do, fear it isn't as simple as removing the nerve though - it'll be plumbed into a bigger nerve a little upstream. But maybe they can resite things/numb you up better or something.
If you're in such severe pain that it's distracting or hard to think, make very sure you write down which painkillers you take and when, because that's when the chance is highest of accidentally taking too much. Post-it note on the box works quite well. Literally just how much and what time.
No idea what they might do, fear it isn't as simple as removing the nerve though - it'll be plumbed into a bigger nerve a little upstream. But maybe they can resite things/numb you up better or something.
If you're in such severe pain that it's distracting or hard to think, make very sure you write down which painkillers you take and when, because that's when the chance is highest of accidentally taking too much. Post-it note on the box works quite well. Literally just how much and what time.
Many thanks for the replies. I can't tolerate NSAIDs. I always advise patients to write down when and what they've taken.
I saw OOH dentist; she removed the temp filling and took the nerve out, then replaced temp filling ( I'm booked in to have a root canal). They've put a medicated dressing or something in. Will this last until I have the root treatment ?
It left me wondering why my dentist didn't remove the nerve to begin with?
I saw OOH dentist; she removed the temp filling and took the nerve out, then replaced temp filling ( I'm booked in to have a root canal). They've put a medicated dressing or something in. Will this last until I have the root treatment ?
It left me wondering why my dentist didn't remove the nerve to begin with?
No it won't.
Whether the dressing lasts until the root canal or not depends on what dressing was used. Some are more solid than others but then more of a pain for the dentist to get out again to do the root treatment. And a dentist should NEVER have pain
If you're careful the dressing could last a month or so but ideally you'd do the root treatment before then.
Whether the dressing lasts until the root canal or not depends on what dressing was used. Some are more solid than others but then more of a pain for the dentist to get out again to do the root treatment. And a dentist should NEVER have pain
If you're careful the dressing could last a month or so but ideally you'd do the root treatment before then.
Hey Rhianna
It sounds like your dentist when doing a filling had what we call a "carious exposure". More or less as you are removing the decay its so extensive that you end up exposing or uncovering the nerve. To be honest I would have probably done something similar if it required root canal, a dressing in this case is usually quite successful and keeping things calm.
The sad fact of life is as a dentist your always under massive time pressure. By the time you find out about the exposure you are unlikely to have a lot of time to start root canal which is a slow process. I wish dentistry wasnt so business dominated but time is money and when money gets tighter every year its hard to ignore.
If its still sore then yes, reopening and further cleaning and redressing usually works.
It sounds like your dentist when doing a filling had what we call a "carious exposure". More or less as you are removing the decay its so extensive that you end up exposing or uncovering the nerve. To be honest I would have probably done something similar if it required root canal, a dressing in this case is usually quite successful and keeping things calm.
The sad fact of life is as a dentist your always under massive time pressure. By the time you find out about the exposure you are unlikely to have a lot of time to start root canal which is a slow process. I wish dentistry wasnt so business dominated but time is money and when money gets tighter every year its hard to ignore.
If its still sore then yes, reopening and further cleaning and redressing usually works.
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