Email in regard to a friend of one of our "Dental Family" & root canal treatment.

Hi, _____;

Please see my response inserted into your text below.

I hope you, _____ and all of yours are well.

---
I wish you & yours the best always!
Dave McWhinnie
Text & Voice: 847-906-3202
www.SmilesOfSkokie.com
Mobile: davidmcw3@gmail.com
Blogs: http://dave-mcwhinnie.blogspot.com/
http://drdavesmilesofskokie.blogspot.com/

On Wed, 7 Sep 2011 10:56:42 -0700 (PDT), ____ _______ wrote:
> Hello, Dave.
>
> I have a question for you, please. I have a friend at work who may or
> may not be the victim of questionable dental practices. Allow me to
> explain. She had a root canal done on of her upper, center-most teeth.
> Within two days of this surgery, the color of the tooth began to
> darken. Concerned about losing the tooth, not to mention the
> appearance issue, she went back to visit the dentist. On the latter
> visit he told her that this discoloration is normal, and that one must
> wait fully six months after a root canal to see if the tooth
> recuperates its health and can be, for lack of a better word,
> “saved”.

When a root canal is done on a tooth there shouldn't be much discoloration. A root canal treated tooth [in particular an upper front tooth] needs to be sealed with a temporary filling material which should prevent it from discoloring and help prevent the root canal treatment from failing. The discoloration I don't understand at all. A tooth treated in this manner should also be restored with bonding material within a few to 6 or so weeks after the root canal. Then it should be restored with a crown within a year of the completion of the root canal treatment. These are standard practices within dentistry. Root canals in these teeth almost always work. The success rate is in excess of 95%.

>She also is thinking that if the tooth is this dark after
> a few days, what will it look like after six month?

This is a good question.

>The worst case
> scenario, the dentist says, is for the tooth to die, in which case he
> says the optimal step would be replacement with a tooth implant.

The tooth is already devitalized and thought to be dead after a root canal. Failure entails an infection which won't heal or usually redevelops within a relatively short time after the root canal is completed. Root canals can, however, fail years after the treatment is completed.

>
> Does this sound like standard and proper practice to you, please?

Perhaps there is something lacking in the communication but it does sound questionable to me.

> Does it sound as if a second opinion may be needed here?

I think that would be a good idea. I would be happy to assess the situation. I do a lot of this type of treatment.

>
> I appreciate your time and trouble, whenever you may have the
> opportunity to answer this.

It is my pleasure and honor to be given the opportunity to express my professional opinion here. I appreciate your concern and efforts on behalf of a friend of yours.

>
> Thanking you kindly in advance,
>
> ____

Please let me know if I can be of further help.

Sincerely yours,
Dave