Hello all. Wow. I'm in some serious pain. After waiting a couple months with tooth pain that I was avoiding paying attention to... a few weeks ago I had the first step of a root canal done, got a temporary filling and then had to wait until I could get back into the dentist office again. Which brings us to a couple days ago, when I had the second part done, with the silver filling (no crown yet). Everything was fine until the day after... when it started to swell a bit, and was hurting again, not majorly... but it was no fun. I talked to the dentist and he prescribed some more painkillers, and when I asked if it was normal he said "sometimes if you wait a long time to get the procedure done, it can take awhile before it feels normal again." but man, I woke up this morning to some UNGODLY stabbing pain and I swear it seemed that three days after my appointment, which is today... that it's just getting worse. And yes, I am also taking antibiotics... but it doesn't seem like it's calming it down like the antibiotics did in the first place.

Now my question is this... if after the first appointment, the tooth was sensitive, but not painful. Why would it be so painful after the second appointment? Is it possible it got re-infected? Or re-abcessed? And if so will antibiotics take care of it? I really CANNOT afford oral surgery or even one more dentist visit!! (I couldn't afford this one as it is!)

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
-Scott.

I don't know if this will help... I'm not a dentist but I have had a lot of root canal done... if in between your appointment your tooth has stabbing pain then a) the dentist hasn't removed all the nerve yet... or b) it could have become infected.
To relieve any pain between all you have to do is remove the temporary filling. If pain continues go back to the dentist and complain again and again... or change dentists.
A finished root canal does not hurt at all. Good luck!

Ok, now before I say anything I want to make one thing clear... The profession of dentistry is to take dental problems, repair them, then teach you (hopefully) how to avoid them in the future. Dentists do not create your problems, you do. 10 years in the dental industry and I am still amazed as to how people cannot take responsibility for their dental hygiene. An I mean no disrespect but please disregard the information given to you by petti.
Ok, now the fact that you left it for months without any treatment is not a good thing. The first sign of pain should alert you, pronto! With RCT's, there are no guranatees(tee hee, that rhymes). I wish I could tell you that every RCT is succseeful, but unfortnately, some do fail. It is difficult to comment acurately without seeing x rays, etc but when you returned for the final visit, was the tooth totally pain free? If not, the tooth could have had some residual infection and may have needed an interim dressing. If on the final visit, when the tooth was root filled, did , the dentist mention if he had overextended the filling, or conversely, too short? My advice is to complete the AB's and continnue taking pain relief. (ibuprofen is good) It is not unusal for someone to have pain post RCT, but if it increases or remains the same, it may need the root filling removed and redressed. In any case, go back and see your dentist, or perhaps you need to be referred to an endodontist (RCT specialist) Hope I have shed some light, if you need any further info, let me know- happy to help!