Dentist gave me chemical burns

[lilyboleyn]

I had a root canal on Thursday. During the process I felt something sour and burning go under the dental dam and into my mouth, enough to pool under my tongue and fill the bottom of my mouth. It took me a good thirty seconds to realise it wasn’t something normal (like minty mouthwash) and that my tongue and mouth was burning, at which point I sat up and spat a stream of it out, past the dental dam which was flapping about by then.
The dentist said it tasted like bleach but wasn’t bleach and she let me wash my mouth with mouthwash before continuing. She also asked to see my tongue to check what it looked like. She used the chemical again but this time used the spit sucker to make sure it didn’t pool in my mouth.

since Thursday I’ve developed red, sore patches around the inside of my mouth and back of throat and it hurts to drink anything hot. There are also several ulcers that have appeared and my mouth still tastes bad, although I also can’t taste specific tastes very well so it’s just a generic bad taste. I can’t phone the dentist because yesterday and Monday were/are bank holidays and I’m very aware there’s a 2000 person waiting list for the dentist so I don’t want to upset them and lose my place.

I want to know what it was though, and what happened to cause this. Does anyone know what it was? Google suggests sodium hydrochlorite but that is bleach. I just feel like I paid £400 and shouldn’t have left with what I think are chemical burns…

Whatever she used - would have been completely medically fine but you seemed to have had a bad reaction to it 🤷‍♀️

Are you angling for compo?

No, I just feel a bit violated.

Why?

Btw the dentist didn’t “give you chemical burns” 🙄

you had an adverse reaction to something very routinely used in root canal work

Gengigel will help with the ulcers and discomfort. No other advice sorry.

I suppose because I expect the dentist to help, not harm.

So she failed to do the root canal?

You need to contact (by email) the practice manager/ principal dentist
tell them what youve told us here
they need to be aware because this sounds like a opportunity for them to learn how to do better. ( this is what would happen at my work. A learning opportunity for them following a complaint from you can be helpful so it doesn’t happen again)

if this happened at our place the pm and principal dentist would want to know. Also you may need it examined and someone else ( I’d guess you don’t trust the first dentist ) needs to decide if you need further treatment .

It's reasonable for op to want to know what's caused the issue!

If it is an allergic reaction then that needs noting in her records for future reference.

Similarly medical professionals can get things wrong and you wouldn't expect to actually come to some harm during treatment unless this was specifically mentioned as a risk, I wouldn't expect the op to just suck it up as some posts seem to imply.

I'd contact the dentist when the open op. Otherwise 111 have a dental assessment service you could try I believe.

Thank you for the helpful replies.

I would contact the dentist for advice when you are able. No one here can confirm or deny whether your issue is due to a professional oversight on the part of the dentist, or bad luck as a result of a personal and unforeseeable sensitivity to an ingredient or formulation. Either way, your dental practice should be able to give you some care advice. If they aren’t open today, pop into a pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for some first aid advice until you are able to speak to the surgery.

This is also really good advice. Get someone to take a photograph if you can.

Maybe you are allergic to the substance? I would take photos and email the practice (good to have a record). Call as soon as they open. A dentist may need to check you out. I'd expect they would urgently. The adverse reaction should be recorded on your file for future reference at least, to inform further treatment decisions. It seems unlikely that something would be used in your mouth that could cause chemical burns. I've had a root canal and, other than water and some antibiotics inserted into the space, I don't recall anything else being used.

Putting aside any thoughts of compo, violation or fault and being practical, have you tried calling your dental surgery/looking at their website to see if they have an OOO number on their answering machine? If not I would phone 111 who could arrange a OOO dental appointment or go see a pharmacist this morning. If you are concerned it is a chemical burn it is best to see someone sooner rather than later to minimise damage.