Dr. Noah's Dentistry Blog

Questions About Dentistry Answered

Dentist Damaged Daughter’s Tooth Removing Her Retainer

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My daughter had her retainer removed several weeks ago. In the process, her dentist damaged one of her teeth. It is now gray in color and receded from the rest of her teeth. He did an x-ray and said he could not tell anything for certain but then did a cold test that she failed. He believes the tooth may need a root canal treatment and is sending us to an endodontist. I have a couple of concerns. First, is there any way this will heal without a root canal treatment? Two, the endodontist he recommended does not use the Gentle Wave technology and I would prefer that if a root canal is necessary that is used. Am I within my rights to request a different endodontist who does use the technology?

Camryn

Dear Camryn,

Mother and Daughter

I am a bit concerned about the diagnostic skills of your dentist. Either a tooth needs a root canal treatment or it doesn’t. There really is not a “may” need a root canal treatment. That kind of wording leaves patients (or their parents, like you) in a quandary, wondering if they would be undergoing an unnecessary procedure.

The fact that the tooth underwent trauma, is turning grey, and has sensitivity to cold is enough to diagnose this tooth as dead or dying. In that case, it will need a root canal treatment.

I’m not sure how he managed to damage her tooth while removing her retainer. I am assuming this was some type of permanent bonded retainer that was bonded. Either way, he should have been able to remove the retainer without damaging the tooth if he knew even a minimal amount about orthodontics and bonding procedures. Obviously, he messed up and, in my opinion, is liable for the cost of the repair. Additionally, you do not have to stick with the endodontist he chose. You have the right to choose any endodontist you want, even segregating them by whether or not they use the GentleWave technology. GentleWave is getting good peer reviews in the dental literature. I think it is a good choice to use for your daughter.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.
Click her to learn about how to straighten your teeth Invisalign, which means no metal wires or brackets.

Can’t Afford to Treat My Infected Wisdom Tooth

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I have a massively infected wisdom tooth. I’m furloughed during the quarantine and my unemployment hasn’t kicked in yet. I don’t have the money to get this treated yet. Is it possible to just take antibiotics until the money kicks in or should I just go to the ER to have this treated?

Kelly

Dear Kelly,

A man holding the side of his jaw like he needs an emergency dentist

Antibiotics won’t solve a tooth infection

Tooth infections aren’t something to mess with. In fact, they are considered dental emergencies. Unlike other infections which can be solved by antibiotics, a tooth infection has to be physically removed by a dentist, either by a root canal treatment or a tooth extraction. Without that, it will continue to spread. The most an antibiotic will do is hold it at bay for a short time. Then, when the antibiotics run out, it will begin to spread again. If you think about how close your jaw is to your lungs, heart, and brain, you realize how people still die from tooth infections.

I’ve found most dentists to be compassionate. That will be especially true during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. I would simply call around to dentists in your area and explain your situation. I’m positive you will be able to find one who will work with you financially until your unemployment payments kick in.

Start by looking for a dentist who advertises as an “affordable dentist“. They pretty much offer payment plans even when there isn’t a world wide health emergency. I’m positive they will in your situation now. You can just get the wisdom tooth extracted and you’ll be back to normal in no time.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Can a Toothache Cause Chest Pain?

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I want to know if chest pain can be caused by a toothache. My mother is 75 and is a tad stubborn. She periodically has toothaches I have to try to convince her to get checked, but this morning she mentioned chest pain too. I started to panic but she says it has happened before and it ended up being nothing. I wanted to take her to the hospital but she said no. Now, I’ve been fretting about it all day. Could that just be referred pain from her tooth or should I have taken her to the hospital?

Karen

Dear Karen,

blonde woman holding the side of her jaw in need of an emergency dentist

ANY time someone has chest pain it is important to get them to the hospital!

Heart attacks can have multiple symptoms and often vary by person. Orofacial pain happens in about 10% of heart attacks. However, it isn’t generally localized to a single tooth, but radiates across the jaw. That doesn’t mean your mother shouldn’t get checked out because as mentioned earlier, everyone manifests a heart attack slightly differently. This is especially true of women.

Toothaches Should be Taken Seriously

Even if her heart is fine, a toothache needs to be taken seriously. Often, they are a sign of a tooth infection. These should be considered a dental emergency. When the infection is not physically removed by a dentist in a procedure known as a root canal treatment, the infection will spread. Antibiotics alone won’t help. Even in the 21st century, people still die from tooth infections.

The Link Between Bodily Health and Oral Health

There are increasing studies that show dental health has a direct link to someone’s general health. This is especially true with gum disease. Patients with gum disease have an increased chance of heart attacks, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. Helping your mother get in front of her dental issues will have an overall positive impact on her health.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Antibiotics for a Tooth Infection

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My tooth is killing me. I just don’t have the money for another dentist appointment right now. What I do have is a bunch of leftover antibiotics my deceased mother never took. She didn’t believe in medicine. I checked and some of the bottles are within their usable date. What dose would I need to make this work?

Marcus

Dear Marcus,

A man holding the side of his jaw like he needs an emergency dentist
Antibiotics won’t solve a tooth infection

I know you’re in a tough spot financially right now. Unfortunately, you will not be able to solve this with your mother’s antibiotics. Not only is using another person’s medication dangerous, even if you had a prescription specifically for your infection it would only be a temporary measure. You would still need to be seen by a dentist.

When your tooth is infected, the pulp inside the tooth will die. This stops the blood flow through the tooth. Because of that, the antibiotics will never truly get to the source of the infection. You’ll feel better for a while, but then the infection will blow back up.

In order for an infected tooth to really be treated, a dentist has to get in there and physically remove the infected pulp. This is done with a root canal treatment. Without that, the infection will return.

This can quickly turn into both a dental emergency as well as a life-threatening one. Our jaws are very close to our hearts, lungs, and brains. We don’t want to take a chance of any infection spreading to those. Even in the 21st century we still have people dying from tooth infections because they waited too long.

Finding Affordable Dental Care

We want to make sure you get the care you need. For the most part, dentists went into their profession because they want to help people. In cases of emergency, such as yours, many dentists will be willing to get you the treatment you need and then allow you to pay it out in installments.

You can do an internet search using the term “affordable dentist“. Those who advertise as such are usually more willing to work with patients on their payments.

I hope this helps. This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Is a Painful Tooth Dangerous?

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I need some advice. I broke a tooth a while back but really didn’t have the money to do anything about it. A few weeks ago it started hurting like mad. I just took some pain meds but then it started to spread, because the area going down from it is swollen all the way to my neck and now there’s a red streak all the way up to my eye. A friend said this is a tooth infection and dangerous. So, I found some leftover antibiotics and started taking them, but it’s not really doing anything. Is this really serious or will it eventually just get better?

Cindy

Dear Cindy,

blonde woman holding the side of her jaw in need of an emergency dentist

You must be in tremendous pain. We’ll help you get this sorted out. Your friends are correct. This is serious. In fact, people still die from dental infections and they are considered dental emergencies.That’s because they mistakenly think antibiotics will be enough. They’re not. Tooth infections are different from other biological infections.

With dental infections, the tissue in the tooth dies, which eliminates blood flow. Without that, the medicine won’t reach the infected part of the tooth. This is why your infection is spreading even though you’ve been taking antibiotics. Eventually, it will spread to your brain or heart. By then, it is often too late to save the patient.

This is a Dental Emergency

You will need to see a dentist for this to be treated properly. Your dentist will need to do what is called a root canal treatment. This is where the dentist gets in there and physically removes the infected pulp of the tooth. Often, they will place a dental crown on top of the tooth after that to protect it.

There is only one other way to get rid of an infection in a tooth. You can have the tooth extracted. However, when you do this, the tooth needs to be replaced. Once your tooth is out, it opens up a space that will cause your other teeth to shift or tip-in. This can lead to massive problems with your bite, including TMJ Disorder.

It will be more affordable to get the root canal treatment. If you’re worried about cost, there are affordable dentists out there who will be willing to work with you. This is especially true in cases of dental emergencies, such as yours.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Emergency Dentist for Gum Injury

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We don’t yet have a dentist in this area. We’ve been busy relocating and haven’t had the time. My husband recently complained about an injury to his gums that is swollen. He can’t remember when he did it or what happened, but it looks to me like it resembles a giant swollen pimple. Of course, I know we don’t get pimples on our gums so it must be inflamed from an injury. Will this go away on its own or does he need an emergency dental appointment?

Karen

Dear Karen,

Tulsa emergency dentist

Relocation is stressful, so I completely understand you not getting to finding a new dentist. However, what you described on your husban’s gums doesn’t sound like a gum injury. Instead, I think he has an abscessed tooth. This manifests in what looks like a pimple on the gums.

This is considered a dental emergency, so he will need to see a dentist right away. It means his tooth is infected. These infections can blow up quickly and become life-threatening.

I know you don’t have a dentist right now, but there are dentists who will treat non-established patients in cases of emergencies like yours. You can do an internet search using the term “emergency dentist“.

It’s Important He Doesn’t Put This Off

The tendency for men is to “tough it out” and hope it goes away. This won’t go away. Eventually, the tooth may stop hurting, but that is because the pulp of the tooth will die, That won’t stop the infection from spreading though.

It’s always better to take care of these things sooner rather than later. Better a root canal treatment and dental crown than to need a tooth extraction and replacement.

If the Tooth Can’t be Saved

There’s always a chance, depending on how long this has gone that the tooth can’t be saved. In that case, you’ll need to look at tooth replacement options.

Two of the best are to get a dental implant or a dental bridge. A dental implant is the better treatment, but it is more costly than the bridge.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.



Dentist Won’t Fix Crown

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I don’t know what to do. I’ve had massive trouble with a dental crown I had placed less than xix months ago. My dentist adjusted them three times. Nothing he did helped. The crown still hurt like mad every single time I bit down. Now he’s saying there’s nothing wrong. Well, last night I was eating at a restaurant and it broke. I called him and he feels he’s done enough and says I must have done something. He said he’s willing to make a new one, but I’ll have to pay for it. Even if I felt that was fair, I don’t trust him to get it right any better than he did last time. What do you recommend?

Marla

Dear Marla,

Tulsa Emergency Dentist

You have been through the ringer with this, not to mention your dentist is being unfair. It will be fairly easy for you to get a refund for this crown regardless of how your dentist feels. He hasn’t met even the minimum standard for the lifetime of a dental crown.

However, you’ve got to get this problem taken care of. Because you can’t trust your dentist and you’ve been handed a time sensitive situation, I’m going to recommend you look up dentists who treat emergencies in your area. It shouldn’t be too hard to find one. Many of them will use the search term “emergency dentist”.

The Possible Problem with Your Dental Crown

When your crown gives you pain upon biting down there is usually one of two reasons.

The first possibility is a lingering infection. While most of the time an infection is dealt with by a root canal treatment, there are some tricky canals in there and it’s possible one was missed. An x-ray should reveal that. If your dentist didn’t do an x-ray, the emergency dentist will as a standard procedure.

Another possibility is the crown is seated too high. You said he tried adjusting it three times. While that’s good, when it wasn’t making a difference he should have kept investigating the problem.

I think this is the most likely issue with your crown. The reason I say that is it broke when you bit down.

While our biting forces are quite hard, they’re usually spread over all out back teeth. If you have a crown seated too high, your bite will hit that and only that with its full force. That type of force on a single crown will make it vulnerable to breaking.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Dentist Advertised as Affordable to Practice on Patients

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I’m a little worried. Part of me is like, “This is my own fault”, and the other part of me thinks the dentist should have done better. I needed a dental crown, but had been putting it off because of the cost. Fast forward to last week. I received an ad by email about a local dentist. He’d just invested in some crown machine and wanted to get some extra practice on it so he was running a special on dental crowns. It sounded like an inexpensive way to get my crown so I jumped on it. First, the appointment took FOREVER. I was in the chair for more than half the day. I would say close to five hours. He kept going back and working on it. I’m a few days past this treatment and my tooth is super sore. Is this normal or could the “affordable” dentist have damaged the tooth?

Laura

Dear Laura,

porcelain crown being placed on prepared tooth
A cheap crown and an affordable crown aren’t the same thing.

There are three possibilities going on here. The first is normal soreness. Your tooth was messed with for quite some time. It’s normal for the tissue around it to be worn out from that and a little swollen. Take some ibuprofen and give it a couple of days. If the swelling and soreness hasn’t gone down then it is time to be seen again.

That leads me to the two other possibilities:

  • You could have an infection.
  • You could have some tooth trauma.

When Affordable Dental Care Goes Wrong

We’ll start with the infection, because it wouldn’t be the dentist’s fault. You mentioned you’d needed a dental crown but put it off because of cost. It is quite likely your decay spread during your procrastination. This could mean it reached the pulp. If that happened, you now have an infection and need a root canal treatment.

You won’t want to put this off because it is considered a dental emergency. The infection will spread, causing wide spread problems and increasing the cost of repairs significantly. The sooner this is looked at, the better.

The final possibility is the tooth suffered some trauma during the extended procedure. It would be hard to prove, if this were the case, but an honest dentist would want to know and fix any problems he or she caused.

Going into it, this dentist was upfront with you that he was practicing. Whenever someone is new to a procedure or method, it does take them longer. Muscle memory takes time to develop.

If you run into this situation again where you need work but don’t have money, look up affordable dentists on the internet. Many of them will be willing to do the work right away but work with you on payment plan options.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Can I Charge George Lucas for My Dental Appointment?

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I was having fun with my son playing Jedi versus Sith. Not only did my son, the Sith, win but he seemed to use the force. the circle that is at the top of the hilt flew off and hit me in the mouth. I was bleeding, which isn’t unexpected from a mouth injury, but this morning I noticed the tooth feels loose. I keep wiggling it to be certain and I’m pretty certain. Because this injury is due to a defect in the lightsaber, can I charge the company? Or possibly George Lucas? I don’t have insurance or a dentist, but I’m assuming I have to see one.

Melissa

Dear Melissa,

Woman covering her mouth with her hand

A loose adult tooth requires an emergency dentist

First, let me say you sound like a fun mom! I know lots of little boys who would enjoy a good Jedi battle with a parent. As far as charging the company or George Lucas, you could write to them and let them know what happened and ask them to cover your dental expenses which resulted from the accident. However, unless you do a Jedi mind trick, the dentist won’t bill them for the services without written consent.

Next, I’m going to say please stop wiggling the tooth immediately. There are ligaments which aide in holding your tooth in place. If you keep stretching them, they may snap. Your tooth will need to be stabilized. This would be considered a dental emergency.

As you don’t have a dentist, my suggestion is to do an internet search using the term “emergency dentist“. These are general dentists who are willing to see non-established patients in the case of emergencies such as yours. They’ll stabilize your tooth, but also do x-rays to make sure there’s no damage to the pulp of the tooth. If there is, a root canal treatment will be necessary.

Who Pays for Emergency Dental Appointments?

Unless they’re a minor, with rare exceptions, the only person a dentist can charge is the person receiving the service. One exception would be if someone signed a statement saying they’ll cover the bill.

If someone is truly responsible for your accident but refusing to take care of it, your only real option is to take them to small claims court.

I don’t think you’ll get very far with George Lucas, Ltd. Though, you’re obviously welcome to write to him and try.

There are affordable dentists out there. They’re very likely willing to allow you to make payments in order to get the treatment you need then pay it out slowly.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

A Tale of Two Emergency Dentists

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I’m a bit confused. My husband and I both developed toothaches at about the same time. We were in the process of moving and didn’t have time to deal with it. Once we got to our new place, the first thing I did was try to schedule emergency dental appointments because we were both ready to get out of pain. The first practice I called said they could see me but didn’t realize I wanted my husband seen too. It was a Friday morning, which is their half day. they said they could see one of us today and the other Monday. I scheduled my appointment and then called another practice who agreed to see my husband that day. I figured the upside was we’d get to check out two different dental offices to see what we thought before picking our new practice. When I went, they gave me a root canal treatment, but my husband only had to have a filling. Why the two different treatments for two toothaches? Was mine just overly aggressive or did my husband not get the care he needed?

Karen

Dear Karen,

All toothaches are different. They can be caused by a decay, infection, cracked teeth, etc. Plus, while all toothaches are different so is each person’s ability to deal with pain. Maybe you have a higher pain tolerance than your husband so your toothache had been there longer and turned into an infection, while his was just decaying and needed filling.

I can’t answer your question about overtreatment or negligence without examining you and seeing the x-rays. I’d just be taking a stab in the dark. However, the one thing that concerns me is neither of you seems to have been told why your dentists did the treatment they did.

Dental emergency or not, a dentist is supposed to explain the diagnosis along with your options and their recommendation. It’s up to the patient to say yes or no. So, you shouldn’t have been given a root canal treatment without knowing why.

Finding Your Permanent Dentist

When you start looking for your permanent dentist, be sure to check their reviews so you get some idea of what patient’s who’ve been there have experienced. Also, because the emergency dentist did x-rays (or at least should have), you can have your recent x-rays transferred so you don’t have to have those done again right away.

Though you had to have the root canal, I’m glad you got to the dentist before you ended up losing the tooth. The last thing you’d want to pay for right after a move is a tooth replacement.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Ryan Noah.