I had tooth #19 bothering me. I went to see a dentist who advertised as an emergency dentist. I didn’t have a dentist of my own. I will admit that is my own fault because I have a bit of an issue with dental anxiety. I told the dentist exactly which tooth was bothering me and that it was especially sensitive to cold and hurt whenever I touched it. He did x-rays and an exam. His take was that it was my wisdom teeth. Three were impacted and one was partially impacted. He said I could either have that tooth extracted or do a filling. I choose the filling because that sounded less painful. Just a couple of days after that, the pain became worse. I went back and he adjusted the filling and provided me with an antibiotic prescription. When that didn’t help, he again suggested I have the tooth extracted. I went to an oral surgeon and had it extracted. Again, I was fine for a bit but then a few days later my face blew up. It was swollen up to my eye. I went to the ER and they said the tooth, I originally told him was the problem, has a major abscess. I went back to the oral surgeon and he extracted that tooth. I have been fine ever since. My question is, should the dentist pay for the additional procedures that I had to do, which were unnecessary and did not solve the problem?
Kevin
Dear Kevin,
Not only should the dentist pay for all of the unnecessary procedures, but he should also pay for the dental implant you will need to replace the tooth that you lost as a result of his negligent incompetence.
Here are the items that will help you make your case:
1. Sensitivity to cold and touch is a clear indication of an inflammed pulp and the need for a root canal treatment, which could have saved your tooth.
2. He gave you a suggestion of a filling or extraction. Why would you extract a tooth if a filling is the solution? This makes no sense to me.
3. When you were still in pain after the filling, he simply adjusted it and ignored the area you were telling him was the source of the pain.
4. He then gives you antibiotics. Any dentist knows that an antibiotic is used to hold back an infection but it will not remove the infection. That requires a root canal treatment or extraction. By prescribing an antibiotic he is saying there is an infection, but not getting you the treatment you need. Even if he did not like doing root canal treatments himself, it would have been a simple maatter of referring you to an endodontist.
5. An ER clearly saw the abcess. Why didn’t he see it as a trained dentist?
As a result, you have lost a tooth, you were in massive and unnecessary pain, and I am sure you missed a lot of work for all of this too. So, yeah, he needs to pay for the situation he caused.
A Solution to Your Dental Anxiety
As you were in the unfortunate position to experience, when you have a dental emergency, there is not enough time to vet a dentist. You just have to get in wherever you can and try to get out of pain. I wanted to make you aware of dental sedation. I’d like you to try seeing a sedation dentist. Explain to him or her how your anxiety has kept you from the dentist. They will not judge you. In fact, they offer sedation specifically for patients in your situation so that you can finally get the oral health care you need.
This will allow you to have anxiety-free and pain-free dental appointments. Those with the highest levels of anxiety tend to like oral conscious sedation. You’ll be so relaxed that you can even sleep through your appointment, if you choose to. I’ve seen this change so many people’s lives for the better.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.