I had a change in my dental insurance, so I decided to go to a new dentist for a checkup. He discovered a cavity and went ahead and took care of it in the same appointment. He used dental bonding to fix the cavity and the tooth just hasn’t been right since. It kept hurting days after and so I decided to go back in. The dentist went ahead and adjusted it. But, it still bothered me. So, he did not once more, but two more times. Sadly, I got used to it.

When my insurance switched again, I went to another dentist. He took care of the pain and found that there was food getting stuck between the tooth and my gums. So, he decided that the filling just needed to be redone. I thought I was finally free and clear, but after I got home and the medication wore off, my tooth was killing me. I took ibuprofen to help, but it never got better. In fact, it was starting to keep me up at night and was extremely sensitive. The dentist prescribed me steroids to address the inflammation. When I called back into tell him about it, he recommended to have it extracted. How did I get to this point from a simple cavity that was filled?

-Beck in Indiana

Dear Beck,

First off, I’m sorry you are suffering through this situation. From dental bonding to a possible extraction, it just doesn’t add up. Neither dentist succeeded in properly treating you. The dental bonding should have been able to have been adjusted the first time. You should not have had to continually go back in because of adjustments. And the next dentist should have been able to replace the filling to correct the problem, without further traumatizing the tooth. But that’s neither here nor there.

It really sounds like something wasn’t right with the composite filling to start with. Also, steroids are not the appropriate medication to address the problem. The symptoms regarding the tooth pain at night and also the sensitivity sound like a possible infected tooth. And steroids attack the immune system which would have compromised your natural ability to combat infection.

Is it possible your dental insurance is restrictive or limiting your ability to select qualified dentists. Dental bonding requires a high degree and understanding of bonding materials and technology. And both dentists failed to address the issue. Without knowing too much about your insurance situation, it sounds as if you may have been stuck with some dentists that were lesser skilled and may be limited by your insurance plan.

At this point, it would be worth it to pay a little bit extra to get the tooth taken care of once and for all. The tooth should not require an extraction, based on what you have described. Don’t let either dentist move forward with that. A root canal treatment can save the tooth and help you move past this negative experience.