Has my dentist failed me?

[Slightlyneuroricnat]

Yesterday I saw an oral surgeon who I'd been referred to as the dentist was " unsure " about what was causing a swelling along my gum / jawline.
I've recently ( in the last 8 months ) had all 3 back teeth on that side worked on, 2 large fillings and a root canal.
3 weeks ago ( a few weeks after the root canal ) a massive swelling came up, dentist said abscess an prescribed me antibiotics.
Fast forward a week and no improvement so another dose of antibiotics as referral to an oral surgeon for possible cyst / malignancy.
Spent the last week terrified only to have my appt at the hospital yesterday to be told in now way is it anything other than an abscess and it's common for them not to be treated by antibiotics if the problem is deep rooted.
He also showed me an x ray of one of the large fillings which is near enough directly on the nerve.
He said this is usually what causes this type of infection, that they've damaged the nerve ( obviously this maybe could not be helped as very large filling ) and a dentist should have known that this was causing this.
He was very annoyed they'd used the " 2 week rule " for my appoitment and advised me to go to another dentist who does know what they're doing.
A little ( a lot ) confused,
Any dentists or anyone with any knowledge about stuff like this here?
Have a follow up with my dentist this afternoon

Anyone?

I think my first move would be to go to your own dentist, tell him/her what the specialist said, explain all the upset, worry, etc this has caused and ask them what they propose to solve the issue and restore your faith in them.

It could be a simple error or maybe your dentist was just unsure and needed confirmation so erred on the side of caution. It could be that the consultant was expecting too much of a general dentist. I don't think you can know until you see their reaction.

FWIW I had a dentist who was very nice but dealt with an issue very badly leading to almost 5 months of pain, unnecessary loss of a tooth and an on-going problem only solved by the intervention of a maxillofacial consultant and a change of dentist. My new dentist is amazing

Gosh, you're the THIRD person this has happened to over the festive period. Very unusual cluster of two week referrals, maybe being a MNer has a causative effect?

Timid gives excellent advice.

What did your dentist say OP?

Hi
Well the dentist that was there ( not my regular one as he's only in Monday's ) has given me metronidazole 400mg and amoxillian 500mg.
Really would rather not be on these for now week 3.
He is going to see me Friday and look at the X-rays and see what he thinks.
I'm at a loss that nobody seems to be able to tell me which tooth is causing the trouble.
The hospital have a 10 week waiting list for sedation so will have to go private as surely an abscess if pretty dangerous just being left?
But can't go private until I know what the problem is!

Not hugely dangerous in the lower jaw unless it stops you swallowing although it would be ideal to treat it.

Sedation for what?

Sedation for any treatment
Seriously phobic of the dentist im afraid

S

More worried about the infection spreading into the bone / blood if left

You need to take the Metronidazole as unpleasant as it is. Dental infections can be caused by anaerobic organisms (they grow without the presence of oxygen) and Metro is perfect for this.

I had to have eleven courses of antibiotics to get rid of an infection. Ended up on multiple courses of the same first line drugs until the Dentist gave in and PX second line.

What I want to post and what I will post are different.

You are obviously the same poster who has posted about this under 2 previous user names. Going from your previous posts, I believe the dentist felt he little choice but to refer you. I very much doubt you would have taken, 'it's an infection, try these anti-biotics, it might or might not go and then we'll address what to do next" for an answer.

I don't think he has failed you, no.

Didn't know that Iam

Trufact. What are the chances of three (yes three) MNers being referred under the two week rule in the last three weeks? Add to that, two of them have no previous posts. The first one started five whole threads about the same problem ranging from cancer to osteomyelitis. It getting tiresome but I'm trying to be professional.

OP, has anyone addressed why you've needed such a lot of work in such a short period of time? It's quite unusual for an adult to need three fillings and a root canal treatment in the same quadrant in such a short space of time.

Someone will get to the bottom of your problem, are you actually in pain now? Surely it's best to wait and take the correct course of action than to pretend you know what's going on and start taking teeth out on the off chance

Sorry but I haven't posted this 3 times, I did post under my sister Emily's account last week, this was before I saw the surgeon.
Hence why I then created my own login to get further advice after seeing him, I didnt realise this was a problem?
No I am def not happy with " take this and it might help or might not "
Abscesses are dangerous being left untreated so I think me wanting to get to the root of the problem is the most responsible thing, no?
I have had lots of work done in the last year as, as I said earlier I have a massive phobia of dentists so hadn't seem one in about 6 years before last year and was then informed I needed so much work doing that they would refer me to have it done under sedation.
I'm more than happy to pay privately for this work to be carried out rather than waiting months for another referal, just quite shocked that the dentist can't actually tell me which tooth is causing it.
By your responses I'm expecting too much?

Just to add,
I didn't ask to be referred, he was the one who immediately said he needed to refer me as he didn't know what it was and thought it was a cyst.
Only for me to get to the oral surgeon who couldn't believe he had referred me for something which apparently " Amy dentist worth their weight " would know.
I am in pain yes although am taking amoxicillin 500mg along with metro 400mg instead of 200mg although I'm not sure that will make much difference
I will get the tooth ( whichever one it may be ) sorted out ASAP, Im just finding it difficult to relax now on week 4 of having this big swelling in my mouth that nobody can tell me which tooth is causing and worrying it could spread, I'm sure many people would just let the dentist get on with it and hope for the best but I always thought abscesses could be dangerous if left

Having a phobia of dentists doesn't give you bad teeth though? It's diet and cleaning issues that cause dental problems. Always.

If you had explained that you posted on your "sister's" account then it would have been far clearer. You continued to hide that fact even when I questioned it earlier on.

Antibiotics aren't painkillers, if it's an infection with a swelling then they will help to reduce that. You can go privately and find a whole new private dentist even before you know what the problem is by the way so if you think you'd like to go private then don't let that hold you up.

If the surgeon was so confident what was causing the problem then he will tell your dentist this when he writes back to him.

Obviously that wasn't what gave me the bad teeth,
I ate lots of fruit and drank sugary drinks which obviously didn't help although the dentist said lots of dental problems are hereditary.
To look at you'd never guess any problems, they are very white, no stains whatsoever, brushed twice a day thoroughly etc but all the bad stuff inbetween obviously got to them.
I didn't hide anything, you didn't ask me a question just made a sarcastic comment so I didn't think it needed a reply.
I came here for a bit of advice, not a row.
The antibiotics so far have not reduced the swelling much at all, I will be going private but they are not open until Monday ( obviously have to find one that offers sedation so can't just be any old one ) so just wanted to know in the meantime if it was dangerous for this to be left this long and if it's common for a dentist not to be able to tell which tooth has caused a massive abscess.

Which dentist said problems can be hereditary? The surgeon, the first dentist or the second dentist?

It's fairly common to not be able to tell which tooth is causing a problem but there are usually tests which you can do to help guide your diagnosis.

You can't always see abscesses or infection on radiographs and especially if you've had recent root canal treatment it can slightly confusing. That said, Monday isn't too far away, I hope you get the answers you need from your private dentist.

Thankyou,
It was the dentist who referred me that said that, no idea how true it is.
I am seeing the one who gave me the antibiotics yesterday on Friday to see if he can work it out and then will be going private for the treatment ( hopefully Monday )
I hope the one on Friday can work out which tooth it is, I understand as all 3 have had work done it may be difficult but what can I do to help with that if this is the case?

Things that I find make life difficult are if patients answer the question they think they've been asked.
Think about the symptoms you're having, explain them to your dentist, if there's nothing visible on the radiographs then ask about other tests (specifically sensibility testing) to see if the nerve is still alive.

Okay, Thankyou.
Does it make sense to you that the oral surgeon is assuming its a certain tooth as on the x ray the large filling is " extremely close to the nerve "
I am not a dentist and have no knowledge regarding what this may mean but he said that this made it more likely to be this tooth.
From what I've researched, if the dentist hit the nerve whilst doing the filling it could cause infection, am I right or just relying on google too much?
I only ask this as you seem to have a good knowledge

If the filling is close to the nerve, because it is large owing to the amount if decay in the tooth at the time, it can cause the tooth to die. So, yes it could be that tooth causing the abscess. It could, also, be the root filled tooth.

If the abscess is large and goes under all three teeth that have recently been worked on, it might be difficult to tell, but I am sure they will get to the bottom of it.

Thankyou,
It is large and goes all the way along and that, combined with no pain in any of the teeth isn't helping get to the bottom of which one it is!
It did come up 2 weeks to the day after the root canal one but it is slightly further back which is confusing.
At the moment I am clueless and hope Friday gets a better answer but Thankyou for your help
Also, the root canaled tooth was filled rather than crowned as the NHS don't do crowns on back teeth, is this a problem?
Considering getting it crowned privately in case this is playing a part in it

NHS do crowns on back teeth. In the short term it doesn't matter whether they are filled or crowned.

Who told you NHS don't crown back teeth?

Also, if you've got the money to spend, you're usually better off getting the root filling done privately than the crown.
Private root fillings are better than NHS ones but NHS dentists aren't allowed to tell you that.