As I posted last week, I had a very bad experience with my dentist. I called my endodontist (who is awesome) to complete the root canal. I went in this morning to have it completed. As I sit here at home, still numb (he used quite a bit of novacaine), I'm thinking about the difference in the procedure between the two. An endodontist is a dentist who specializes in root canals. Why didn't I think to go to him when I found out I needed one? My intuition told me to be weary of my dentist who had decided to dabble in everything including orthodontics, pulling wisdom teeth and of course, the infamous root canals. Ultimately, he ended up not being great at anything, including appropriate bedside manner.
My experience this morning was night and day to the dentist. You could just tell that my endodontist knew what he was doing and had competent staff who knew what they were doing.(They only needed to take one picture and made no mistakes doing so). He talked me through everything he was doing in a very calm manner. The fact that he was taking his time and not rushing through the procedure left me with the feeling that I was the only patient in the office (even though I wasn't), and gave me the feeling of security and confidence that I was being treated with care. The only time he left the room was when I was getting a picture of the tooth. He was back within seconds after it had been taken to actually show me the picture and what was done.
I have since found out that crowns should not be put on cracked teeth until you see an endodontist to make sure a root canal is not needed. As it is now, I have a huge whole in a brand new crown, and nearly 3 weeks of pain associated with bad dentistry. (All the Advil I have taken can't be great for my health either). I was very grateful that this happened to me, and not to one of my children who may not have spoken up. I know better now.
Because I only have a temporary filling in my tooth now, I must find a new dentist within a week. I have a lot of referrals, so I will take on the arduous task of finding a good dentist for our family, and hopefully COMPLETE this procedure. Finally.
7 comments:
I'm sorry to hear all you've gone through with your dentist. I'll be praying for a speedy (and complete) recovery. Too bad you didn't live in my area I could recommend an AWESOME dentist. I know others say that about their dentist but mine truly is the best! :-)
DSM,
Thank you! I'm not looking forward to finding a new dentist, but I have a lot of good suggestions. So I will start by calling...
Sharon, so glad this was a better experience!! As good as going to the dentist can be ;-)
Let yourself be spoiled again tonight :-)
Thanks for sharing your story. I will have to have root canal in a few years (long story) and I will definitely remember your posts!
I went to an endodontist for my root canal and I felt NOTHING the entire procedure. He gave very good aftercare instructions and I had very little pain after the procedure.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that you find an awesome dentist.
Glad to see that your root canal experience is slowly coming to a positive conclusion.
Many patients still don't see the significance of dental specialists and think that their dentist should be able to do everything and anything. There are specialists in Law, Medicine, and every other profession for a reason.
Dentistry is no exception.
A,
Yes, I've learned a very important lesson. Only specialists from now on. Dentists can do cavities, but I would never let them do another root canal again.
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