root canal treatment Archives - Parma Ridge Family Dental

Dentist Caused a Worse Problem

Posted on July 3, 2025 by writeradmin.

My husband had a tooth infection. We went to see the dentist who started a root canal treatment. She gave him some antibiotics that lasted about five days. A few days after that she finished up the treatment by closing the area and placing a dental crown, even though he was still in pain. A few weeks later, his pain grew worse and the side of his face was completely swollen. He went to the hospital and they told him the tooth is still infected. How did that happen?

Dani

Dear Dani,

The problem I see is the way your husband’s dentist made use of the antibiotics. There is nothing wrong with using antibiotics to help with a tooth infection on two conditions. First, they must not be used in isolation. They cannot cure a tooth infection. You either need a successful root canal treatment or a tooth extraction.

Second, they have to be used properly. What that means is that the tooth is not closed up until the infection is gone. Your husband still had an infection when they closed the tooth. I know that because he was still in pain when the crown was placed. What needed to happen was the antibiotics continued and for the dentist to make certain that the infection was truly dealt with before discontinuing them and placing the crown.

The way his was handled essentially trapped the infection back in the tooth. Now it has spread outside of the jaw and his cheek is swollen. I would consider this a dental emergency. He needs a retreatment and soon. You don’t want the infection to continue to spread and become life-threatening.

You can either have his dentist redo it, but make sure the infection is gone this time, or you can go to another dentist and have them treat his tooth infection.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.

What To Do When a Dentist Causes the Problem

Posted on May 23, 2025 by writeradmin.

I had a tooth that stuck out a bit. I never had braces growing up. My dentist suggested we put a crown on the tooth so that we can make that tooth look straight. I agreed. When the crown was first done, there was sensitivity to the hot and cold. The dentist told me this was normal for the first few weeks. Eventually, my cheek swelled up. I went to the ER and they told me that I had a tooth infection and needed to see a dentist. I went to a different dentist because I was losing faith in my current one. This dentist confirmed the tooth was infected and told me she believes it happened because my dental crown has open margins which allowed for food debris to get in there. She even showed it to me on an x-ray. I’ve spent a fortune dealing with this and had to replace this crown with another, plus get a root canal treatment from the tooth infection. I called my dentist asking for a refund on the part I’d already paid, which is about half. They told me the infection was my own fault for not caring for my teeth and not only will they not give me a refund but they expect me to pay the rest of the bill or they’ll take me to collections. What do I do?

Ellie

Dear Ellie,

I am so sorry this has happened to you. Take what I’m saying with the understanding that I have not examined you and am basing this just on the description you gave. It sounds like your dentist is at fault here by violating the standard of care, which led to you having a dental emergency. One thing that is imperative a dentist do after placing a dental crown is to run an explorer around the margins to make sure they are properly closed. Based on what you’ve described your dentist either skipped that or didn’t want to admit their was a problem with his work.

The good news is you have an x-ray that shows the open margins. I would start by telling them that and see if the second dentist would be willing to help you get a refund from them. Sometimes a dentist will be more willing to listen to a peer than a patient. If that doesn’t work, you can threaten to go to the dental board. He won’t want that. You could also ask a lawyer to write a threatening letter for you. Sometimes the threat of a lawsuit is all that is needed.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Ridge Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.
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Referred Pain or a Failed Root Canal Procedure?

Posted on September 24, 2024 by writeradmin.

I had a root canal treatment done about 3 years ago after an accident. It was on a front tooth. A month back, it started hurting again and became sensitive to hot and cold. The pain has gone away but I’ve been concerned and went in to see a dentist. He couldn’t find anything wrong with it, even in the x-ray. I also saw a specialist who said the same thing. I’m afraid there is something big wrong and they are missing it. I don’t want to lose my tooth. Would you advise me?

Misha

Dear Misha,

If the root canal were truly done then you would not have developed pain afterward because all of the infected pulp would have been removed. If there were a molar, then I would say your dentist missed a canal. However, you said it was a front tooth. Those are pretty straight forward.

My suggestion is that this is referred pain. You mentioned the damage to your tooth was due to trauma from an accident. One thing which is fairly common with tooth trauma is that an adjacent tooth will have initial damage that does not show up until much later. It may be this is your situation.

Just because they didn’t see anything on the x-ray does not mean there is not issue. When the pulp of a tooth is inflamed, it doesn’t show up on the x-ray. Once the inflammation progresses to an infection is when it would become more visible during diagnostics.

If you had pain and it is gone, then one of two things has happened. Either the tooth has healed or it is dying. If it is the later, then it will turn darker and show up eventually. I would simply be careful to keep up with your regular dental appointments and make sure they do x-rays to keep an eye on things. The good news is, either way this is not a dental emergency.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.

An Infected Tooth and No Money

Posted on March 13, 2024 by writeradmin.

I have several missing teeth in the back of my mouth. Now I have an infected tooth that is in a lot of pain. My cheek is swollen so much that I look like I have a golf ball in the side of my mouth. I should tell you up front that I do not have dental insurance. I do have some medicaid, but am between jobs because the company I work for closed its doors without even a warning or any severance package. In fact, they own most of the employees for their last paycheck, me included. I honestly don’t know how to handle this.

Patricia

Dear Patricia,

I am very sorry for what happened to you with your employment. That has put you in a terrible position. While I know many businesses have struggled in this economy, it seems like they lacked some ethics by not notifying their employees of the difficulties and giving them some notice.

You are also in a terrible position with your teeth. What I don’t want you to do is simply try to take antibiotics to solve this tooth infection. All an antibiotic will do for teeth is to simply hold off the infection temporarily. Once the antibiotics runs out, the infection will flare back up.

The only way to truly get rid of a tooth infection is to do so by having a dentist physically remove the infected pulp of the tooth. This can be done by one of two ways. You can either get a root canal treatment or you can get a tooth extraction. The better treatment is the root canal because it means you can keep the tooth.

Your cheek being swollen tells me that your infection is spreading outside your tooth. I would consider this a dental emergency. None of that changes the fact that you do not have the money to take care of this. Given your situation, I recommend looking for a dentist who advertises as an affordable dentist. They are often more compassionate and may allow you to pay out the treatment. Another option is to look and see if there a local dental charity in your area. They will probably remove the tooth instead of doing a root canal treatment so if you can find someone willing to allow you to pay out the treatment, that would be the better option.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Family Dentist Dr. Gecovich.

Did Crest Whitestrips Cause This Man to Need a Root Canal Treatment?

Posted on January 10, 2024 by writeradmin.

I had an accident several years ago that caused one of my teeth to be further back than the others. It is also a little darker than the rest of the teeth. The difference in color started to bother me so I went to my dentist to ask about a fix for it. He suggested I use teeth whitening with Crest Whitestrips. Everything was okay for the first week. Since then, the damaged tooth started to ache. Then, it grew more severe and was sensitive to both hot and cold. I went to my dentist again and he said that the tooth needs a root canal treatment. Do you think that the Crest Whitestrips caused this? Should my dentist have warned me against this?

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

I want to start with your dentist’s suggestion to whiten your teeth in order to fix this darkening. I’m afraid this was not the right solution. First, teeth whitening will whiten your teeth evenly. This means the darker tooth will STILL be darker than the other teeth. Plus, Crest Whitestrips, while they do work, are significantly weaker than professional teeth whitening. It will take several boxes to get a whiter color you would easily recognize.

As to the sensitivity and need for a root canal treatment, it would be unusual for this to be the result of teeth whitening. There have been a few cases where this has happened but it was to a tooth that was already damaged and had some exposure to the dentin. This is only the second time I have heard of something so weak as Crest Whitestrips causing an issue. I can’t say definitively that this was the cause of you needing a root canal treatment. However, if there was already a weak spot, this could have contributed to it.

To truly get this tooth fixed, you will need to see a cosmetic dentist after you have your root canal treatment done. If you ever decide to truly get your teeth whitened, make sure you do it through a dentist so they can give you whitening trays that will protect your gums.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.

Can I Bleach My Teeth With Clorox?

Posted on July 22, 2023 by writeradmin.

I have been wanting to bleach my teeth for a while, but just haven’t had the money. I started thinking about it today and wondered if I could just use my household bleach that I use for my clothes. If so, would I just swish it around in my mouth?

Sunny

Dear Sunny,

Home Bleaching Trays

While I applaud the fact that you are trying to think outside the box for a solution, this will not work the way you want it to. Bleach is a corrosive base, sort of like Lye. It can actually burn away tissue, including your gums, lips, and inside your mouth. In fact, many dentists use it to eat away the dead tissue inside a tooth after doing a root canal treatment. I’m guessing this is not something you want to happen to the living tissue inside your mouth. Addiitonally, when bleach reacts with certain chemicals it forms a toxic chlorine gas, which can actually kill you.

The typical bleach you see for household use is not what your dentists use. The chemical they use is much safer. Even so, they still provide you with teeth whitening trays that are designed to limit the bleaching gel to only interacting with your actual tooth structure as a protection for your gums.

It is hard when you have something you want, that you know will be good for you, but do not have the money for it. I am going to suggest you speak with your dentist about the situation. He or she may be willing to allow you to pay out the procedure over time. If your dentist refuses that, then there is nothing wrong with you looking for another dentist to do your teeth whitening. You don’t have to switch dentists completely. There are many dentists who go to one dentist for their general work and another for their cosmetic work.

If you need to do that, I would look for someone who advertises as an affordable dentist. These dentists are much more likely to allow you to make payments on a procedure than other dentists.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.

Should Our Family Dentist Take Responsibility for Damaged Tooth?

Posted on November 8, 2021 by writeradmin.

My daughter had her retainer removed. She’d been in it for a couple of years after braces. in the process of removing it, one of her teeth was damaged. It’s now turning gray and is sensitive when she bites down. I took her back to the dentist and he “thinks” it might need a root canal treatment. The x-ray looked okay but she failed a cold test. He wants us to go see an endodontist to have the root canal done. I’m a little concerned here. Does it really need a root canal treatment if the dentist isn’t certain? I don’t want put her through an unnecessary procedure. I am also wondering if it does need that treatment, should he pay for part of it? The tooth was fine before he damaged it.

Margaret

Dear Margaret,

I’m having serious doubts about the quality of your dentist. It may be time to look for a new family dentist in your area. As to your daughter’s issue, I’m assuming this was a permanent retainer that was being removed, but even then, it should have been a fairly simple process for him to remove that without causing any damage. Because he caused the damage then he is responsible to pay for the repair.

If the tooth is turning gray, has sensitivity to biting and cold, that is a clear indication the tooth is dead or dying and needs a root canal treatment. My recommendation is you see the endodontist and get his or her opinion. You are not limited to the endodontist he picks. If you’d rather see another one, you are within your rights and he would still be responsible for the payment.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Ridge Dentist Dr. Gecovich.

How Long can You Put Off a Root Canal Treatment?

Posted on September 1, 2021 by writeradmin.

I have a tooth that needs a root canal treatment and I just do not have much time. My family has a lot of difficulties right now. I don’t want to be stupid, but if it can wait it would be very helpful.

Donna

Dear Donna,

First, let me say how sorry I am your family is going through difficulties. Second, that it is wise that you are checking rather than just avoiding the issue altogether. While I can’t give you a definitive answer for your specific situation, I can give some general “guidelines”.

If there is any active infection, you need to have the root canal treatment immediately, it would be considered a dental emergency. So, what does an active infection look like?

The two main indicators are pain or an abscess. If you have any pain, even a little bit, or had pain that just recently stopped, you need to get to the dentist right away. The same goes for an abscess, which looks like a pimple on your gums. Both of these situations are serious and can escalate quickly.

If you have no pain and have not for a while, it may be okay to put it off for a little while. Though it may not be active in the sense that it is growing, there are some things to be aware of. Infected teeth do affect your overall health systemically. Many patients say after they took care of an infected tooth, their whole body felt better and they weren’t as tired.

Additionally, there is a risk of external resorption, where the root of the tooth is slowly being reduced. At some point, there will be no way to save your tooth and it will have to be extracted then replaced.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Gecovich.

Premium Home Whitening Products

Posted on July 2, 2021 by writeradmin.

I keep receiving advertisements for Premium Home Whitening Products. Is this a good, reliable product? It does cost less than what my dentist charges.

Paul

Dear Paul,

Home Bleaching Trays

I have done some looking into this. There is one positive and several concerns. Let’s start with the positive, because that is always my favorite. Their whitening ingredient is legitimate so it will whiten your teeth. That is great. There are many products out there that are total frauds, so at least this one has something going for it.

As for the things that concern me. The first is the light they advertise. It is ineffective and I believe it is just there for psychological reasons. That bothers me for a couple of reasons. One of which is they are willing to mislead patients. That is never a good sign in a company. Second, why charge patients for a light that doesn’t work? Leave the light out of it. Rely on the solid whitening ingredient you have and make your product less money.

Another concern I have is the bleaching trays. When a dentist makes bleaching trays for use with professional teeth whitening, they are custom designed to your particular bite. This serves a two fold purpose. It protects your gums from the whitneing gel, while simultaneously safeguarding its strength and integrity. The tray provided with this kit will do none of those things. This means your gel will leak, making it both less effective and putting the health of your gums at risk. Some patients have been known to need a root canal treatment as a result of take home kits, such as this one. Plus, the open trays allow your saliva to pool in the tray, which dilutes the gel that does stay in the tray.

You will need quite a few kits to do the same amount of whitening gel will accomplish through your dentist. My suggestion is you talk to your dentist about the product. While it may be less than what your dentist is charging, I doubt it is a whole lot less. See if your dentist will come close to matching that price and you will have a more effective whitening system for around the same price.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Ridge Dentist Dr. Gecovich.

Sensitivity After a Tooth Extraction

Posted on May 31, 2021 by writeradmin.

I had a wisdom tooth extracted. At first everything was fine. Last week, I ended up spending six hours working on my garden and the area began to ache and show sensitivity to cold. I put off getting this looked at, and now I am having sensitivity to warm or hot food. Is this something that I need to have looked into or is it fairly normal. I want to an oral surgeon for the procedure and he is not as reachable as I expected.

Loreen

Dear Loreen,

I’m sorry your oral surgeon has not been communicative with you. Part of the job of a caregiver is good follow-up care. I suggest you write a review making that known so other potential patients are not left without post-operative care. As to your situation, some achiness after exertion is normal when you have recently had a tooth extraction. I’m not too worried about the cold sensitivity, but the sensitivity to heat is an issue.

I think the problem is not as much with the wisdom tooth extraction site but the adjacent tooth. There are times during an extraction that the root of the other tooth can be exposed, making it more vulnerable. The sensitivity to heat is an indication that the pulp of the tooth is dying. The dying pulp gives off gases. When you eat something warm, it heats up those gases which causes them to expand. With no where to go in their finite space, it causes pain.

My suggestion is you contact your regular family dentist as soon as possible to schedule an urgent appointment. If I am correct you are going to need a root canal treatment.

This blog is brought to you by Parma Ridge Dentist Dr. Gecovich.