Does this sound right? Post Root canal pain.

[Verynearlytea]

I went to the dentist yesterday with toothache. I am 11 weeks pregnant so dentist didn't want to take x-rays but said issue was an infected gum pocket. She inserted some medicine(?) in the pocket and sent me on my way. Over night the pain got worse, after initially subsiding, so went back today. The dentist then advised that she perform root canal surgery on the tooth as she felt the infection was probably deep.

The pain is as bad as it was yesterday, before the root canal. Does this sound right? I don't know how much pain I should expect and suck up so to speak. I am bit confused how removing the nerve of my tooth will help with the infection of the gum, I feel it is the gum that is hurting rather than the tooth.

Anyone know anything about this? Would be very appreciative of any advise. Am in a fair bit of pain and paracetamol is not really doing the trick.

Did the 'medicine' taste of cloves or was it a cough medicine sort of taste that looked like dark brown wadding?

The 'medicine' did taste of cloves.

Dry socket?

Not sure.

Am infected gum socket needs to be cleaned out to make it better. Did she refer you to a hygienist for this? Also did she complete the root filling or just remove part of the nerve? An x ray would absolutely be indicated in this instance, I can't see how any dentist can carry out root canal treatment by going in blindly.

I really would suggest you seek a second opinion from another practice

Thanks NoArmani, she did refer me to a hygienist but it was not for imediate treatment, rather suggested I start going very regularly through out pregnancy etc.

Regarding the root canal, I belive she removed one of the nerves and I have to go back next week to have rest done (I have a temp filling). Does root canal treatment sound right when the initial diagnosis was an infected gum, how can this help that problem?

I think I may try and get a second opinion but am a bit nervous to do so, is that a normal thing mid way through treatment i.e. will the next dentist not think it's a bit odd?

Thanks very much for help, I really appreciate it.

Quite honestly, no. If she's diagnosed a gum problem then root canal won't help. She really should be taking an X-ray. The benefits outway the risks in this instance. She can't possibly complete a root canal treatment without an X-ray - it's highly unusual.

It won't seem weird to seek a second opinion, you are entitled to it. It may be that the second dentist you see agrees with the first in which case you can return to the first dentist and she need never know you got a second opinion. Notes aren't shared by dentists as they are by GPs

Thanks so much NoArmani, I'm going to try and get the second opinion tomorrow. Do you know if antibiotics would work to fight the gum infection and are they safe in pregnancy?

They would work as a temporary measure. It's hard to say. If you walked into my surgery tomorrow I'd take an X-ray and be able to give a proper diagnosis. The doses these days for one small digital X-ray are tiny, you'd get more radiation from a flight to Spain and pregnant women fly all the time.

I suspect, although this is just an educated guess, that you have some gum disease and your pregnancy has exacerbated the problem as pregnancy hormones make gums more sensitive to plaque.

So what would the treatment likey be for that?

If I'm right (and I may not be, it's hard to say without seeing you) then deep cleaning under the gums from a hygienist