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Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 3:25 pm
by pcspinheiro
Hi all,
long time no see, as I've been taking a mentally healing brake from braces. However, there is something troubling me... When I first got braces the bracket on one of the lower first premolars was glued too far down, so this tooth was being pulled up too much. This hurt due to the constant push down by the top teeth and I complained repeatedly to my former ortho who, as usual, dully ignored it for several months, until I pointed out how far down the bracket was and how this pain would not go away. Fast forward to a few weeks ago (almost 2 months after debracing) and this tooth is still too sensitive and now I start noticing its color is a little more greyish than the rest. I'm freeking out because this could be an indication that the repeated trauma it was exposed to for months could have killed it. I already called an office to have this checked, but if I lose another tooth to my former orthos incompetence I think I will go legal on the case. She NEVER listened! Ahhh, there goes my mental healing :(

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:54 pm
by assertives
Is it sensitive to pressure or temperature or both? My ortho once told me that if it was a root canal issue, then you'll probably experience a spontaneous throbbing pain or pain that wakes you in the middle of the night on top of the pressure and temperature sensitivity.

Don't fret, just wait and see what your dentist say about it.

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:58 am
by pcspinheiro
Thanks for your reply! It's sensitive to pressure but particularly to temperature. I'm just worried that it's clearly darker than the other teeth, it has this grayish tint that it did not have before braces... I have not been able to find a slot at the dentist yet...

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 5:13 am
by pcspinheiro
I just thought about your reply and I agree that a root canal issue would cause those symptoms, but probably if it was due to infection and not due to stress or injury...

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:37 am
by pcspinheiro
So, just came from an appointment and it's confirmed, the tooth is dead due to apical nerve necrosis and I was advised to get a root canal procedure to avoid bigger problems down the line... I'm gutted from all this and just wish I could go back in time to tell my idiot 2-year younger self to just leave it alone OR run from that ortho's office as fast as possible... Anyway, thanks for the support.

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:18 am
by EmilyTravels
I am so sorry this happened to you, but I am afraid that you probably signed a contract with your ortho absolving him/her of any damage to your teeth from orthodontic treatment. I know I did...they do a real CYA in their contracts.

Still, that's really wrong. I too would be livid -- and sad. :-+ :evil: :(

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:58 pm
by pcspinheiro
I don't think I signed any such waiver but that's irrelevant too. I could go legal and claim all I'm suffering is from her wrongdoing and incompetent, but what proof do I have? She knows full well that I complained about that tooth for months but she can just deny it, there are no records of it. Same deal with the unnecessary extractions, that she then came and said if I did not want to remove teeth I shouldn't have removed any, when it was her who pushed for it and said it was the only way, that there was no room for all my teeth. So, after I realized it was a lie and refused further extractions, then it was ok to not have removed teeth??? Even after I told her repeatedly that I did not want to extract healthy teeth! WtF??? She's just incompetent, otherwise she wouldn't have wasted months of my time TRYING to close my extraction gap, she would have done it. Yet, after almost 2 years in braces here it is, the size of a full tooth...

Pointless to say, I will never ever set foot in that office again, unless it's to claim the cost of fixing the problems she caused.

Better luck to everyone else, and to me with my next Ortho, as I still need work done to at least make things a little better. Let's see what the MRI has to say about my TMJ, but with my luck and symptoms I'm not expecting good news.

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:29 pm
by pcspinheiro
On the subject of getting a root canal done I appreciate everyone's help on this as I cannot find relevant info on the internet..:a root canal is usually needed when there is tooth decay and/or infection, to clean and seal the infected, dead or dying pulp. I do get that, and it's splashed all over the wise web. But in my case the tooth died due to internal trauma to the tooth apex, from the repeated stress of the wire pulling it up and the top teeth pushing it down, otherwise it's fully intact and there is no risk of infection, I would think. So why was I promptly told I should get a root canal? Won't drilling through the crown make things worse and compromise the structural integrity, paving way to an infection? I was not convinced by the argument that I could get an infection or abscess, this happens when the teeth are already compromised (cavities, fractures, etc) and have lost their structural integrity... plys, this tooth's root has a curve near the tip, so I believe such procedure could make things worse. If anyone finds relevant and trustworthy info on this I would be very thankful.

Cheers.

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 5:26 pm
by Mpkh
Firstly, to echo what Emily said, you likely signed a contract with your former ortho that has stipulations that would absolve her of blame. My contract definitely does. They do CYA quite thoroughly considering just how many things can go wrong.

As for the root canal, I’m no dentist, but I would imagine that the necrosis at your root has the potential to spread to the remainder of the root and to your crown. As well, necrotic tissues triggers an inflammatory response on the body, so without treating the necrotic root, you could be experiencing constant pain at that tooth in the future. Root canal= no necrotic root= no potential to spread the necrosis.

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:40 pm
by assertives
My contract has that waiver too. It basically states the following risks of treatment: non-vital teeth, root resorbtion, tmj and relapse, and signing that contract means I understood those risks could happen.

As for the root canal treatment, it does not matter if the necrotic tooth was due to trauma, cracks or decay leading to infection. As long as the tooth is necrotic, a root canal treatment or an extraction is usually indicated because the necrotic tissue needs to be removed, otherwise, it becomes "food" for the bacteria. The root canal space is no longer accessible by our blood stream because it's no longer innervated so the body cannot fight the source of infection on its own. Eventually, the bacteria will make its way out of the root canal space and start eating away at the jaw bone. But this takes a while to happen though.

I'm not a dentist too, but I did alot of research on my own when I had a tooth that wouldn't settle after a deep filling and a root canal treatment looked imminent. I'm sorry it happened to you, hope things go well for you from this point forth.

Re: Am I losing this tooth too?

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:16 am
by pcspinheiro
Thanks guys. The only thing I remember signing was some paper saying i accepted the quote for the treatment. People don't get sued a lot
In Portugal for these things (at least not that I'm aware of) so they probably don't cover their backs like in the USA. Regardless, nothing will bring that tooth back, and that saddens and infuriates me, because it was her fault. I told her repeatedly that that bracket wasn't positioned correctly and told her what was happening, with ghd top teeth constantly hitting the bottom one. She chose to ignore it, like she did with everything else. If I had proof of these talks and complaints I would sue her to the full extent of the law, for physical and moral damages.
I now see the point for the root canal, to remove the necrotic pulp... I don't think bacteria can get there with an intact crown and periodontal tissues, but I guess in time the tooth may me compromised from within. I'm still not 200% convinced though, and will need to get more professional opinions on that. You see, if that's
really needed I'm facing a procedure that may well worsen my TMJ problems due to the very long chair times required...