Need urgent root canal treatment in tooth filled 6 weeks ago @ huge expense.Was it bad dentistry in 1st place?

I had a large white filling done 6 weeks ago to replace an old discoloured filling - purely aesthetic reasons, I had no problems with tooth. This morning the expensive white filling was removed as I have infection in the nerve/root canal, antibiotics prescribed %26amp; temporary filling done. Now deciding whether to remove tooth or proceed with root canal treatment. However, how did I get an infection so soon after treatment - did the dentist not 'clean' the cavity properlly before filling ?or can bacteria really enter the root canal via a new filling?

Need urgent root canal treatment in tooth filled 6 weeks ago @ huge expense.Was it bad dentistry in 1st place?
Any a time a tooth is drilled on there is a slight chance of the tooth reacting badly and needing a rootcanal. I have seen this happen many times. It doesnt have anything to do with the dentist not cleaning the tooth before filling it. Most fillings when they are removed have at least a small amount of soft tooth structure underneath. This has to be removed to place the new filling. This process could have been all that was needed to cause the tooth to flair up. Sorry, but I dont think that the dentist did anything wrong. It is kinda like getting a kidney replaced and your body rejecting it. It is nobodys fault, sometimes it just doesnt work like expected.
Reply:to me i personally think that the dentist did not do it right as a filling like that has to be done proberly and cleaned thats why it wa infected if i was you i would change my dentist, plus the other problem being if you do need aroot filling you are looking at least £500, it could be that some infection got into the tooth after it was filled but i doubt it very much, belive i know i have to get one done and i am terriffied of needles in my mouth so i am just getting the tooth taking out. hope i have helped. x
Reply:i had the same problem i had the treatment which cost me 140 then 2 weeks later i had to pay 20 pounds to have it pulled out i should have had it pulled out in the first place
Reply:it can but i really would go back to your dentist
Reply:Anything can happen, and unfortunately, it did. Yes, it is very possible to get infection in a recently-treated tooth since bacteria can enter when it's exposed and vulnerable when replacing a filling -- even under the most sanitary conditions. It wasn't the dentist's fault. Those things do happen. I would opt for the root canal and try to save the tooth, especially if it's a front tooth that's showing. Molars also should be saved, as they are the ones that do the chewing. I know, because I have two molars missing on one side, and can't chew on that side since there's nothing to chew with. Most folks don't think much about their teeth until they don't have them anymore. Anyone with dentures will verify that. So if you have a chance to save the tooth, by all means do so -- whatever it takes.
Reply:its possible that your cavitiy was very close to the nerve. Therefore resulting in pain., or possible fracture of the tooth. you say you had the old filling removed for cosmetic reasons, at that time the nerve or tooth may have been distrubed resulting in pain. Thinking you had a toothache. Or possibly you left the office hitting slightly higher on it resulting in trama and pain. If that was the case your bite should have been checked after the filling was put in and then adjusted accordingly. Possibly he only removed and replaced the filling without checking for debris, bacteria needs air to form i believe. so when the air hit it, then sealed . it had all it needed to strive. As far as having it pulled, bad choice if you can afford not to, especially if it is a jaw tooth , what happens is you take one out and the opposing one extrudes and you end up loosing that one to. Root canals go hand in hand generally with crowns. But one can go fairly long with the temp filling placed after the root canal, not a good idea but one can ..Generally antibiotics are given for an abcess tooth, the temp filling should have been a medicated one. Most time you dont fill a tooth that is abcessed as i recall, until the antibotics are done and the infection under control. If it was filled with a med filling you may get lucky for awhile and the tooth will settle down..i know patients that have had temp medicated fillings a long time. Not advised but ....you may get lucky..Heres my advice- most patients have a very hard time wearing a lower denture..so keep your teeth you rely on them to live. Steak isnt any good if you have to gumm it..lol
Reply:What probably happened is that you had a very large, very deep filling that had new decay under it. When they removed the old filling and cleaned out the decay, it was probably very close to the nerve. Now, every person is different and every tooth is different to how it will react to decay being that close to the nerve. Some will go along with no problems while another will need a root canal. I'm sure that you're dentist did everything just fine. Get the root canal done....it's much better than getting the tooth pulled. Good luck
Reply:He/she should have filled your tooth properly. For sure it was his/her mistake. And, please, do not remove your tooth. It's important to save the root, because of the alveolar bone. Suggestion: look for another dentist.
Reply:Justine and Huskymom speak from experience and they are correct. Whenever you have an old filling removed, it is almost inevitable to find some new or residual decay under that filling. Even though you were having the filling replaced for esthetics, it has probably been there quite a while and, quite frankly, old silver fillings are notorious for having decay lurking under them. This means your new filling is closer to the nerve than the old filling and voila......... toothache. Most of the time, this doesn't happen when you replace an old filling, but sometimes it does. That's all.

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