Is this an unfortunate situation or a case where I need to sue? re: Dentistry?

only is 100% incorrect about what a root canal is or how it is performed. she's clearly not a dentist or in the dental field.

a root canal is a procedure that attempts to fix the infection. The roots are NOT removed. The dead pulp of the tooth is removed, washed vigorously with bleach, and filled with gutta percha--an inert rubbery material that is a relative of the rubber tree. Once the source of the infection (the dead pulp tissue) is gone, your body can usually take care of the abscess on its own. antibiotics generally aren't even needed. Now root canals are not always effective--no medical procedure is--but they are over 90% effective 10 years out.

From your story, nothing appears to be less than the standard of care given.

The problem you face legally is that if the dentist followed his "Standard of Care," you have a very low chance of getting compensated. However, in regard to your dental health, root canals done in America today are one of the major causes of many diseases. Dentists drill out the roots, but leave the root ligament. Then they sanitize, typically, with hydrogen peroxide that only kills about 30% of the germs. This leaves the canal with germs. Then they fill the canal with things like gutta percha that is a latex material that does not fill all the canals! This allows the bacteria to grow and go down through the root ligament into the jaw bone. NICO (neuralgia induced cavitational osteonecrosis) or deterioration of the jaw bone happens as a result. There is NO pain associated with jaw bone deterioration. Sometimes the bacteria can get to other areas of the tooth as it sounds like in your case. If the dentist had used a laser to sanitize the root, made sure all drainage was completed, used a good filler like endo-CAL10 you most likely would not have had this bacterial problem.

Please understand that the ADA is not your friend and your dentist is typically following the standard of care that is accepted by the ADA. The ADA is so bad that if you ask your dentist to remove amalgam fillings due to health reasons and he does, he can lose his license to practice. That is the ADA's dictate and part of the standard of care dentists are bound by.

I suggest you see a biological dentist that knows what he is doing and demand your money back for all the bad dental work that was done, "Standard of Care" or not.

@Hawkeyes: The word "root" I used is the combination of the nerve and pulp that are removed and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. If you will notice, I said "drill out the root" and that does not mean remove the root, but "drill it out." I certainly know very few people that want to get that technical, but to clarify there you go. The actual statistic used by most dentists when predicting the success or failure of a root canal is 20% failure within a few years, not 10%. I question your understanding of the biology of a root canal and if you hold fast to using the typical standard of care dentistry, you will be damaging a lot of people, especially if using gutta percha as the filler of choice.

Gutta percha does NOT FILL all the canals and leaves pockets where bacteria breed and create biofilms that grow and cause all kinds of damage including cancer in many humans.

For your information, bleach and hydrogen peroxide only kill about 30% of the germs. Are you aware that chlorine does not kill staph, strep, and germs like T.B. in the concentrations used in the human body? Why do you think autoclaves were created? NICO (neuralgia induced cavitational osteonecrosis) or deterioration of the jaw bone is created by using those sanitizers and gutta percha! Since there is no pain involved in NICO, a huge number of victims of dentists are subjected to all kinds of health problems that arise from that "Standard of Care" process! Do your homework. The data is there if you take the time to look for it. I suggest you start using GOOD SCIENCE instead of the ADA propaganda that you have been handed.

good luck to you

To make a decision on whether you have a case you will need to pay for an expert opinion and it will be expensive. You would need really deep pockets to take this to court as well as medical negligence will not take this on no win no fee.

It would all be based on clinical picture at the point of presentation. The Dentist covering the emergency sessions is A@E made his opinion at the time and it his only his professional opinion at that point in time. Not an expert opinion.

The reason is that a high percentage of root canals fail or have complications like yours post treatment.

Your dentist gave you the standard accepted antibiotic as a first stage treatment, he was not to know at that stage that your infection may have needed a piggy back of two different types of antibiotics for two different types of bacteria. He based his clinical decision on the facts in front of him at the time and gave the appropriate treatment.

Nothing to do with his surgery or equipment or anything like that, just pure bad luck.

Lots of people have a piggy backed antibiotics in to beat a particular infection even before a root canal is done. Some people have infections that go on to become infective cysts and cause bone loss when the infection is an issue.

You had a root canal following antibiotics. The second course of antibiotics resolved the problem without the root canal being repeated or even the root being surgically extracted.

You did not grow a cyst or lose bone and need an extraction and an implant either.

So think yourself lucky, your root canal has bought you time with the tooth and it may last three years, ten years or twenty years with that tooth before it gives you any problems again. In the longer run they can fail as they become brittle or fracture.

You have had a year with no issues so stop fretting and move on.

FFS why do you human beings continually think of that the element of do is sue somebody. It happened, the dentist used their judgement on the time and regrettably for you it did no longer artwork. recover from it for crying out loud.