A long post but want to try and explain as best as possible.
Starting at the beginning of October 2017 I developed a constant pain in the left temple area of my head. The pain varied on the pain scale day by day between a 5/10 up to about an 8/10. It was ruining my life and was stopping me from sleeping a lot of the time. I saw a neuroogy consultant and had 2 MRI scans and was tested for Temporal Arteritis (even though I was out of the risk group). The MRI's didn't show anything and the TA tests were negative. My neurologist was at a complete loss as to what was causing my pain. I was near suicidal at one point the pain was so intense and constant.
Fast forward to February. Still having the same issues, still no answers. I register with a new dentist (hadn't seen a dentist in about 8 years and my old practice had closed down). The dentist took xrays and said that there appeared to be a bit of decay under my already filled upper left 1st molar. So he took the old filling out and was shocked to find extensive decay underneath. He removed the decay but it went very deep and he was worried the filling would aggravate my nerves, but tried anyway. Well the filling did aggravate the nerve. The head pain was now joined by extreme tooth pain. So he decided it needed a root canal.
So he did the treatment. He did the whole thing in one session (which I now understand is not usual) and fitted a permanent amalgam filling. After he finished he looked annoyed. He told me that he had never actually done an unsupervised molar root canal before. He told me that he could only find 2 root canals. He was clearly angry at something, and told me that he couldn't do anything more to help me.
Well the root canal was now 9 weeks ago. The tooth still hurts if I touch it (it is no longer sensitive to heat or cold at all, but if I try to chew on my left side and when I brush it aches like a bruise or something).
I was now pretty scared of that dentist. It took me ages to find a new one but 2 weeks ago I went to a new surgery. The new dentist took an xray and said that the other dentist had seemingly left infection at the root tip of the tooth, and he gave me 10 days of Amoxicillin (500mg). He also said that it looks like there is a calcified 3rd root canal in the tooth. I took these and within a few days the head pain that I had had for over 8 months completely vanished! To say this was a relief is an understatement. I finished the coarse of antibiotics and for about 4 days the pain was still gone. However it is now back and slowly increasing again.
I feel completely lost. I don't know what I can do. I feel at the end of my ability to cope with this pain. The new dentist said that it appears that my upper molar roots are very close to my sinus, so extraction could be difficult. He offered to refer me to a private endodontist (I am an NHS patient). I have very little money and I am now wondering, would it be even likely that this tooth could be saved now by a specialist endodontist? Would filling the calcified canal solve this? What on earth happens if I have the tooth removed and end up damaging the sinus?
Then to add further stress, I have been having to chew exclusively on my right side. Now my lower right molar, which is also filled is hurting every now and then when I bite on it. I am so frightened after what has happened with the left upper molar that I don't know whether to get this tooth treated or just ignore the occassional pain.
Starting at the beginning of October 2017 I developed a constant pain in the left temple area of my head. The pain varied on the pain scale day by day between a 5/10 up to about an 8/10. It was ruining my life and was stopping me from sleeping a lot of the time. I saw a neuroogy consultant and had 2 MRI scans and was tested for Temporal Arteritis (even though I was out of the risk group). The MRI's didn't show anything and the TA tests were negative. My neurologist was at a complete loss as to what was causing my pain. I was near suicidal at one point the pain was so intense and constant.
Fast forward to February. Still having the same issues, still no answers. I register with a new dentist (hadn't seen a dentist in about 8 years and my old practice had closed down). The dentist took xrays and said that there appeared to be a bit of decay under my already filled upper left 1st molar. So he took the old filling out and was shocked to find extensive decay underneath. He removed the decay but it went very deep and he was worried the filling would aggravate my nerves, but tried anyway. Well the filling did aggravate the nerve. The head pain was now joined by extreme tooth pain. So he decided it needed a root canal.
So he did the treatment. He did the whole thing in one session (which I now understand is not usual) and fitted a permanent amalgam filling. After he finished he looked annoyed. He told me that he had never actually done an unsupervised molar root canal before. He told me that he could only find 2 root canals. He was clearly angry at something, and told me that he couldn't do anything more to help me.
Well the root canal was now 9 weeks ago. The tooth still hurts if I touch it (it is no longer sensitive to heat or cold at all, but if I try to chew on my left side and when I brush it aches like a bruise or something).
I was now pretty scared of that dentist. It took me ages to find a new one but 2 weeks ago I went to a new surgery. The new dentist took an xray and said that the other dentist had seemingly left infection at the root tip of the tooth, and he gave me 10 days of Amoxicillin (500mg). He also said that it looks like there is a calcified 3rd root canal in the tooth. I took these and within a few days the head pain that I had had for over 8 months completely vanished! To say this was a relief is an understatement. I finished the coarse of antibiotics and for about 4 days the pain was still gone. However it is now back and slowly increasing again.
I feel completely lost. I don't know what I can do. I feel at the end of my ability to cope with this pain. The new dentist said that it appears that my upper molar roots are very close to my sinus, so extraction could be difficult. He offered to refer me to a private endodontist (I am an NHS patient). I have very little money and I am now wondering, would it be even likely that this tooth could be saved now by a specialist endodontist? Would filling the calcified canal solve this? What on earth happens if I have the tooth removed and end up damaging the sinus?
Then to add further stress, I have been having to chew exclusively on my right side. Now my lower right molar, which is also filled is hurting every now and then when I bite on it. I am so frightened after what has happened with the left upper molar that I don't know whether to get this tooth treated or just ignore the occassional pain.
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