I just got work done on my teeth from a new dentist in my insurance chain... He was a quack. Help!?

Okay, so it goes like this. I had a dentist that I trusted and loved to death, but my new insurance, he doesn't take. I had to move to another dentist. I was supposed to go in today for a root canal, and he started to drill before I was numb. I screamed. The **** hurt. Well, he told me that there was not enough tooth left for a root canal, and that I was going to have to have it pulled.





Here comes the fun part:





He said that it was abcessed, and that I had to take two days of antibiotics before I could get it pulled, and he STARTED TO YELL AT ME. Yes, you heard me correctly. He YELLED at me. Obviously, this is NOT the guy I want doing an extraction.





Well, now that the numbness is starting to wear off, it's starting to hurt like HELL. What makes this MORE complicated is that I'm pregnant. I really can't take anything for the pain except for Tylenol.





I have an emergency extraction scheduled with my old dentist tomorrow. What can I do for the pain in the meantime?

I just got work done on my teeth from a new dentist in my insurance chain... He was a quack. Help!?
Well, I am not a dentist, but I have been a dental assistant for 10 yrs. We really don't have enough information to go off here. We don't have an x-ray or intraoral photo of the tooth, so there is no way that anyone can tell you whether or not the tooth is savable. I will say that I have seen cases where we attempted to do a rootcanal and after getting all the decay removed, there simply was not enough tooth structure left to save the tooth. It is possible, and likely, that the nerve was exposed during the procedure, and until the nerve is removed or the tooth extracted, you will be in pain. Let your old dentist evaluate the possibility of saving the tooth, that is a premolar and is probably visible in your mouth when you smile, so I certainly would not want to have it removed if it were me.





Now as far as him yelling at you, I can't say one way or another on that, because I was not there, but if you say he yelled, then I can only assume that he did. That is one problem, unfortunatly, that I have seen many times in my career, a dentist signs up for all these insurance plans so that he will be considered "IN NETWORK" and then has to see twice as many patients as someone who was not in-network, and he tends to develope a short fuse and is very stressed dealing with all the patients he has to see, therefore his quality of work and his chairside manner go way down. This is the reason why my dentist is not in-network with any insurance plans.





I think that you already know the answer here, you should go to your old dentist where you feel comfortable. If you let your insurance dictate where you should go, you may find that you get care that is not what you expected, and is not what kind of care you wanted.





As for the medication, most OB/GYN's will let a pregnant woman take Vicodin and Lortab, but do not quote me on that. You should call yours and see what he will allow you to take.
Reply:Go see an endodontist. They are specialists with stuff like root canals and trying to save a tooth.


And take the antibiotics. The absess won't go away wtihout antibiotics.


The antibiotics won't hurt the baby. However, you need them in order to feel better.
Reply:I went through pain at the dentist when I was pregnant too and all you can take is Tylenol sorry. Maybe try oral gel or something. I hope the pain goes away soon. Also you should report that dentist and tell your insurance you refuse to go to him anymore. Good luck mama
Reply:My neighbor is a dentist. I could ask him. I know that you are going to need a strong pain killer. You should go to the ER at the hospital. Being pregnant means you have to watch what you take. No tooth is too far gone for a root canal. They can put a steel pin in to secure a crown to. I've had it done.
Reply:The pain has no reason to cause a micarriage.





I dont know that it really needs to be pulled, it matters a lot about how much of the ROOT is still intact, it could be theres so little of the root that pulling it isthe only way to insure it doesnt become infected and worsen things.





Call your OB, you might be able to use some oragel for these two days.





Dentists are one of those professionals that once you find a good one, its not worth it to swtich. We dont have dental insurance because we have good teeth, and when we do go we simply pay the bill over a period of time, which ends up being the same as if we had always paid an insurance premium.





Unless you have horrid teeth, i'd just suck it up and stay with your original dentist. A good one is very hard to find.
Reply:If you are really worried about taking the medictation call your OB/GYN to find out how or if it will affect the baby. Get a second opinion from your previous dentist and call your insurance to report your situation with this new dentist and tell them you would like a new dentist.

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