Still hoping there might be dental solution - thinking extraction?

General General TN & GPN (Old Site)
1

I had a root canal 3 weeks ago and the burning and pain has been with me since. One thing I found out was that the dentist I initially went to on dec 24 used fermocresol in my tooth. This is a formaldehyde based product and neurotoxic. Now it was not like the Sargenti paste, it was just a cotton pellet dipped in the stuff sealed into the tooth for 10 days and the vapours sterilize the canal.

As well, one of the canals was overfilled a little and I am worried it is pressing on the nerve.

I am super sensitive to chemicals and exposure to solvents and such give me a burning face and headaches. When I floss, I can still faintly smell the formocresol leeching out.

I’m thinking if its either of those problems, extraction might help me.

What do people here think? Is this worth a try or am I just flirting with making it worse?

I have an oral surgeon booked for Friday (I figure if I’m going to do it I should do it right)

2

wow this is def. a hard call i intially had problems with my teeth that kept furthering cause they didn't know what they were doing. so now i'm missing 3 reg. teeth and 2 of them had root canals first before i had them pulled i was still in pain after they did them. they even blamed the teeth pain and headaches on my wisdom teeth still being in so i ended up having those removed only to be in more pain. As far as what they put in my root canals i'm not sure i would be straight with then tell them all the symptoms yours having everything! and tell them you think you might have tn and your not 100 percent this would be a good idea. hope everything works out for you not to scare you i just wish someone was there for me to tell me not to pull cause now i feel like someone is pulling my teeth all day long its awful

3

I agree with jstagrl!

4

Sooo many of us with TN have multiple teeth pulled and it's no help, but in your case, this one tooth where they pretty much poisoned you with formaldehyde...that stuff needs to be removed. It might cause more issues than just tooth pain. Did he remove the roots, THEN put that chemical in there, or did he put the chemical in there thinking it would kill the root? I am really sensitive to chemicals too. You need a proper root canal where they remove the root (and that toxic stuff), and then if you are still having face pain, THEN you'll know it's not a dental issue, it's TN. But now, so early in the game when a tooth was suspected, you should do all you can to see if it is only the one tooth.

5

Well, I will tell you. Even after pulling a tooth that I had a root canal done on twice (which was dead inside I might add) and was originally done in February of 2005 redone in July 2006. It still feels like there is a tooth there and I get twinges of pain there, even though the tooth is gone. If it weren't for getting put on the Effexor in August of 2011 I would have pain there. It still feels like a tooth is there even still. My experience. I felt like the tooth had to be cracked so I went ahead and had it pulled, in my situation tho, I got hit in the face when I was a kid, so I opted to have it pulled. I am glad I did.

6

Thanks for all the replies. I saw an endodontist today who was very concerned that formocresol was used. Shocked actually and he called the dentist's office to confirm.

He told me to see an neurologist and a ENT guy about it.

I asked if it woudl help to remove the tooth and he said he didn't know. I had an appointment for friday for the oral surgeon but this has been getting noticibly worse every single day so I talked to my family dentist (who really is a good guy and does NOT use formocresol) and he agreed to extract the tooth tonight.

We talked at length about what an oral surgeon would do differntly and he said "not much in an extraction like this". I went ahead and did it. The anesthetic took the burning away and the extraction was minimally painful except for a couple of twinges.

Once the anesthetic came out the burning returned, a little worse but I would expect the nerves to be a little upset. No pain in the tooth, just a slight ache.

THe tooth did smell faintly of formocresol, the dentist agreed. He scraped the area quite thoroughly and took an xray to double check for material left behind which he then loctated and removed.

Damaged by Sargenti, my burning and pain initially was in my cheek but then spread to my lip, temple, eyebrow and forehead. Though never at the same time, in fact, it would shift rapidly between one another. I guess I'm hoping that because the onset was slow and intermittent that maybe the damage isn't permanent or at least no worse than it is now. I think it was the vapours, because if it was from the overfill (very small) of gutta percha wouldn't I have had pain and symptoms right thru and not have gotten better?

I'm very sensitive to chemicals and exposure tends to make my face burn. I can't even paint with latex or use certain cleaning products unless I'm wearing a mask. I'm hoping that removing the chemical stops the symptoms. Does that sound at all reasonable or am I grasping at straws here?

I've never heard or read of anyone with this type of injury from formocresol, just from sargenti though it stands to reason it could happen.

My dentist irrigated the tooth very thoroughly before finishing the root canal for that very reason (Though there was no way to get it out of the dentin tubules)

As I type the burning is less than it was initially and the pain is minor to none. (after 600mg of ibuprofen).

I am still keeping my appointment with the oral surgeon on friday to discuss my case and see if there is anything more that could be done. As well, my dentist said "off the record" it would be good to have documentation from a surgeon and endodontist if this ever goes to court. (It was not him who used the stuff, it was an emergency done on Christmas eve by a different dentist).

7

Well, your comments sure drew an informative response.My experience of misdiagnosed extractions, wasted root canals etc are similar to the above comments. My suggestion is to learn as much as you can about TN (our site is spectacular). When you go to your next appointment ask them what they know about TN/ATN. Being informed is vital and don't be afraid to make them squirm, YOU are the boss.

8

D by S,

It was not the same dentist. I saw an emergency dentist on dec 24th and she used the stuff. It was a cotton pellet that was dipped into liquid formocresol and placed in the tooth for 10 days. My regular dentist saw it when he reopened the tooth and told me about it. He also irrigated the canals for an extra long time to get it all out.

When the endodontist was so concerned I spoke to my dentist and had him do the extraction immediately since my appt with the oral surgeon was a consult tomorrow and extraction friday.

My dentist does not use either product and his opinon of formocresol was that it was "old school". He's seen it before used in this way but never heard of a problem like this (unlike sargenti paste which is well documented). He said it is still used on kids but would he would nerver use it because he wouldn't want it used on his kids. As well, he says there's nothing wrong with amalgam fillings but he he chooses not to use them either. So I trust him there, it's just an issue of competency. Is he skilled enough to remove it all, so I'm still seeing the surgeon tomorrow for the consult.

As I said, I don't think overfill was the problem, it was the vapours from the tooth (you could still smell them on the extracted tooth) hence the delayed onset, unlike sergenti which I believe is immediate. I think this was a low level exposure that I'm hoping I took care of in time.

I feel better today, less burning but more pain. The pain however is localized around the tooth and cheek which makes sense since the tooth was huge and it feels like inflammation pain. Advil helps somewhat, so that's a good sign I think.

We'll see, only time will tell. I'm truly hoping this takes care of it and I can start to get better or at least stop getting worse, which I was every single day. If it is just plain old ATN after all, that obviously sucks and I'll try the medication route next but I can't see how I'm any worse off for trying this except being minus one tooth.

As I mentioned, my dentist actually said "off the record, I think you should see the oral surgeon to get this documented in case it ever does end up in court".

Thnaks for the advice

9

SF Bill,

My family doctor had immediately said he thought ATN caused by dental work. He said he's seen this quite a few times and most of his patients eventually improved over time with the exception of two who are well controlled on carbamezapine.

I had resigned myself to this more or less (hence joining this site) and was looking for options and support but because of the comments of the endodontist I figured if the tooth might be the cause and not the procedure itself then, heck, lets get rid of it NOW. If this doesn't work, I don't think either my doctor or dentist would be willing to start pulling more teeth. Maybe in that way it's better I had the intense burning rather than just pain, since it's more clearly neuropathic in nature.

Thanks

10

Agreed there. I just installed laminate flooring in my house last month and paid extra for the zero formaldehyde emission type because of safety concerns for my family. How's that for fricking irony?!?

Damaged by Sargenti said:

The systemic exposure is what scares the crap out of me with this sargenti crap that was used in me. I cant hardly believe that it is any better with formocresol, regardless of whether it goes into the canal or not. There is no excuse for dentists to be putting that crap in anyones mouth.

http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-71/issue-10/749.pdf
11

Thanks again. I will ask about steroids tomorrow. It is the #3 tooth I believe in the American system (they call it the 1-6 here in Canada). Second top molar from the end (third if you count my long absent wisdom tooth). I am 100% positive it was gutta percha because my dentist explains everything as he goes. He showed me the stuff, explained how he was heating it, etc while he was doing the procedure.