Betrayed by my dentist.

I've been going to my dentist for decades and trusted him with my whole heart and soul. The end of March, I went to him with a sore area. He fooled around with the area for a couple of appointments, seeming like he didn't really know what to do. He finally sent me to a root canal specialist . . . then to an oral surgeon. Well, it turned out I suddenly needed 3 teeth pulled. I was horrified.

Yesterday, I got scared at the oral surgeon's office. He pulled a tooth last week, and he was about to pull two more. I thought the guy was unusually rough in the way he grabbed my cheek and injected the local anesthetic. He'ld seemed a bit weird last week. (Made an off-color joke.) I got scared and left without letting him pull my teeth.

I've been looking up all kinds of stuff about dentistry on line, saw a negative review . . . and decided to look at the state board of dentistry website. Well, both my regular dentist and the oral surgeon he sent me to have been disciplined. My dentist was fined for gross negligence/incompetence in what sounded like a case similar to mine.

I'll be afraid to go back to either of these guys. Now I have to find someone trustworthy to go to. I am in shock to discover that I've spent years trusting someone who has probably allowed my teeth to unnecessarily deteriorate.

I thought it was odd that I could suddenly need three extractions, when I go faithfully for check ups and cleanings every six months. I don't trust easily, but I thought I had a wonderful dentist. Now I feel like a stupid idiot for not wondering before this about some signs that he was not up to snuff.

Maybe this is the wrong forum for this. I don't know where else to post.

My parents would never spend money on dentists when I was a kid. When I was 16 and got a job, I spent most of what I earned for a good while paying for dental care to address years of neglect. All my life I was near obsessive about my teeth. Now I have major problems, and it looks like - once again - someone with a responsibility towards my dental health has been irresponsible.

I feel betrayed. I feel naiive. I should have realized. Restorative dental work is awfully expensive. And it's not like the original equipment.

Two teeth have to be pulled fairly soon. I have crippling anxiety about the pain, due to the pain I felt yesterday. Another unrelated health problem has come up that's moderately serious. It's becoming too much.

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. All of this sounds horrifying. Of course you would feel betrayed. Have you considered a lawsuit? I hope you can find a dentist who can properly maintain your teeth. Hugs coming your way.

Sorry about what happened. Hope you'll soon be able to find a new and Good dentist this time.

Sorry about that Rose - good that you followed your gut instinct about the surgeon. I had something similar happen many years ago and cancelled my extraction appointment, supposedly my wisdom teeth had to come out, well 20 odd years later and they're still here and have not caused me any more trouble.

I don't know how these things work in the US but hope you can get a dentist who you trust, best if you can get a personal recommendation.

I feel so close to this dentist, I can't imagine suing him. I actually have always liked him.

I'm not sure the loss of 3 teeth would be considered serious harm.

What's also a problem is that I've been on antibiotics for dental abscesses for a month. Now I have an intestinal problem that may be related to the antibiotics. I'm going for a CT scan now of my abdomen to diagnose that.

What makes me cry was I thought my dentist was one person who cared about me.

I'm sorry Rose76. That's really tough.

Oh sweety{{}}

First, let me say that I currently believe that almost all dentists just do not know what they are doing. I had a really good dentist for most of my 30s and then he retired (he was young so I honestly wondered if he decided it wasn't worth it) and I have found NOTHING but lying bull people who lie constantly ever since. I don't believe it is personal.. I just believe modern dentistry standards are wrong wayyy too much is left to interpretation.

But do you need to have those two teeth pulled? Get a second opinion. Check yelp for an oral surgeon who just does that all day. Yelpers will tell you who really is the best and who sucks.

True story last year. I had a dentist putting on a crown on a cracked tooth. This tooth was on the lower right right side. During the process.. the tooth on the upper right side became so painful I was sure it needed something. But it didn't. After the work was done on my crown and I stopped having someone fool around in my mouth... the pain stopped. The pain was intense even though there was nothing wrong with the tooth. I believe your teeth are connected and there can be a phantom pain.

I also had an extraction on a wisdom tooth. I also refused to do it when they said it needed to come out 20 years ago. But I did have it taken out when it became clear it was suffering a lot of decay that either the dentist couldn't get to during cleanings or refused to get to.

They sent me to a VERY rude man who seemed to act like I was being a baby and wanted to pull the tooth within 3 minutes of the novacine injection. I said HELL NO and left. Within 2 months I found a doctor on yelp who was MUCH better. A woman who only did tooth extractions. She gave me 20 minutes for the novacine to work, kept a blood pressure machine on my arm... and went in for the extraction.. hard... but, it lasted about 30 second and it was done. I felt "pressure" no pain. She had a consult with me before pulling the tooth and advised me to get liquid motrin as it would be easier to take... all about dry socket and even suggested that in the weeks before I eat Spinach (as it helps with clotting) and stock up with food that I could eat easily. She also suggested vitamin D to keep infection at bay.

The first day, I did a LOT of bleeding. But it healed... I didn't get dry socket and I didn't get an infection.

Finally I have turned to investigating natural means to take care of my teeth. Look up Weston Price and there are many natural things that you can take to keep your teeth in good shape. Such as bone broth.

Thanks for recommending yelp.

I thought dentistry was a pretty exact science. Now I think they do a certain amount of wild guessing. Maybe that's inevitable, but none of them really explain much. Now the two teeth I nearly had pulled aren't bothering me at all. I know they are seriously damaged. Eventually they're going to not be worth keeping. But, for now, doing nothing is an option.

I did come across articles on Weston Price in the course of my recent reading. I'm convinced, now, that root canals do set the stage for future infection. (I'm dubious about blaming root canals for arthritis and Parkinson's disease.)

My dentist takes xrays without putting a lead apron on me. I thought that was odd. Now I'm wondering if he just uncaringly exposed me to danger.

I already paid that oral surgeon for two extractions that weren't done. I paid the endodontist over $400 for him to tell me that a tooth was too far gone for a root canal. (He started, but discovered the tooth was cracked.) Dentistry can be quite a racket, I'm finding out.

I would request a refund. They should promptly turn it it over to you because it is really simple to head off to small claims court. They can't keep that money.

I do think that dentistry is, well maybe not a racket, but what they currently believe is wrong in many capacities. I think they scare people into doing things with the suggestion that a tooth infection could lead to your death. Yeh if you don't do something for like 10 years... but ask yourself this question.. how did people survive before modern dentistry? Be reasonable. But your not going to die if you give it 2 months.

These are the scares that dentists were wrong on just recently.
- I MUST remove my wisdom tooth. Nope had it for 20 years.
- I must get a root canal on a tooth where I did NOT see any infection. He said it was an "emergency" I didn't believe him and went to another doctor. Got a filling. 2 years later, it is fine.
- I must get my teeth replaced (all of them) because I had "ground them down). They absolutely could NOT tell me how this happened. I ignored them. I still have the teeth.

-When you go to a dentist, as you are leaving ask for any x-rays that were taken that day before you leave. Just TRY getting them later although they are your property.
-Try coconut oil on your teeth. For my money it is better than a cleaning. It has antibacterial and anti viral properties and honestly makes my teeth whiter. I also suspect it gets into tiny holes in your tooth making teeth less sensitive.
- be careful about yelp too. I do think some dentists pay people to put up good reviews. If all the reviews are five stars with little information to each review... that is a red flag. You should see an overall good grade that has some negative reviews and the reviews have factual detail where you can tell that person actually had that experience.

Emily, I think you make some very good points. Especially, I like your idea, that it might not be the end of the world to take a little moratorium on dental work. It so happens that, today, I have no soreness in my mouth. Where I had that molar extracted two weeks ago, has firmed up and really isn't bothering me. The wisdom tooth that was so sore is okay right now.

I, too, was wondering what all did humans do for the thousands of years prior to modern dentistry. Your comment just prompted a memory. When I was 23, a periodontist warned me that I might lose all my teeth by my the time I was 35. To prevent that I had to see him twice a year (in addition to seeing my regular dentist two other times every year.) I passed age 50 with all my teeth still in my head, despite foregoing the periodontist visits that another dentist told me were overkill.

Thoses rave reviews were sounding a bit canned to me too.

Yeh one dentist told me I had to have "deep cleaning" because of my periodontal disease. I looked it up and saw this was a scam. 10 years later, teeth still in my head.

My brother hasn't been to a dentist since he was 25. He had a terrible root canal. Before that he had all his wisdom teeth removed and I had never seen him so sick. He stopped going and just takes are of his teeth and they are in amazing shape despite the fact that he drinks Mountain Dew a lot.

My idea is to keep a little mini journal for two months of how your teeth feel. Something I have done is to use Motrin for a few days to "clear" any inflamed nerves and then stop the pill and see what happens. If you have a problem the pain will return but this way you can get a break and better evaluate the pain -- if any.

Glad your feeling better.