4 months of pain for just a cavity??

[troubled11]

What is the name of your state? NYS

| had a cavity filled by a dentist 4 months ago. She was n a great rush and distracted.
Afterwards... my face swelled up and | could not open my mouth and the dentist sent me to her oral surgeon. He said everything was normal but the dentist had been somewhat rough and | have a hematoma.
The dentist then gave me lots of pain medicines and muscle relaxants and also anti-biotics because the answers were inconclusive.

|'ve been to 4 other specialists { 2 E.N.T's an oral surgeon and an audiologist} and all say probably a hematoma and other factors.
My face's still swollen and |'ve lost some hearing.

Noone wants to say the dentist made a mistake but 4 months of pain for just a cavity procedure seems strange. Do | have any legal recourse?

 

[JessiesGirl]

Cavity

Hi,

Can any of the specialists you went to testify if needed that your dentist was negligent? If you went the legal route that is what would be required to proceed. I don't know if a hematoma is an expected side effect of drilling. Did you sign an informed consent document that listed possible effects of the surgery? I would be willing to bet it included that swelling is common, but 4 months is a really long time to be in dental pain. Is there a remedy for the hematoma?

Barry1817 is the resident dental expert on this forum, so standby. He should be along to offer advice.

Best wishes and have a Merry Christmas.

K

 

[troubled11]

No-one has been certain so | don't seem to have a case. Just pain.

A hematoma's rare;



Side Effects
Local anesthetics are the most common drugs used in the dental office. Side effects are very rare.
One possible side effect is a hematoma, or blood-filled swelling, that can form when the needle hits a blood vessel. The anesthetic sometimes causes numbness outside of the targeted area, and your eyelid or mouth can droop, but these effects disappear when the anesthesia wears off. Sometimes, a medicine included in the injection — a vasoconstricter to narrow blood vessels — can cause your heart to beat faster. If this happens, the effect lasts only a minute or two. The needle can injure a nerve, causing numbness and pain after the anesthesia wears off. The nerve usually heals over time, and the symptoms disappear.

 

[las365]

|'ve been to 4 other specialists { 2 E.N.T's an oral surgeon and an audiologist} and all say probably a hematoma and other factors.

What other factors?

 

[barry1817]

dental problems

What is the name of your state? NYS

| had a cavity filled by a dentist 4 months ago. She was n a great rush and distracted.
Afterwards... my face swelled up and | could not open my mouth and the dentist sent me to her oral surgeon. He said everything was normal but the dentist had been somewhat rough and | have a hematoma.
The dentist then gave me lots of pain medicines and muscle relaxants and also anti-biotics because the answers were inconclusive.

|'ve been to 4 other specialists { 2 E.N.T's an oral surgeon and an audiologist} and all say probably a hematoma and other factors.
My face's still swollen and |'ve lost some hearing.

Noone wants to say the dentist made a mistake but 4 months of pain for just a cavity procedure seems strange. Do | have any legal recourse?

If during the course of an injection a blood vessle was nicked, a hematoma could occur. This in itself would not be a malpractice issue, but a side affect that could happen from treatment. Prescribing antibiotics for a hematoma seems to indicate that the dentist didn't a firm grasp on the problem, because anitbiotics would not do anyting for a hematoma, it is not an infection. The lack of knowledge to treat might be a problem.

What happens when a treatment goes beyond the scope of care, is that the dentist should be referring out for specialty care, or must treat to the level of the specialty. Once they referred you, to take you back for treatment could be a problem if a specialist deems that the treatment was below standard.

Recommendation is that you seek a consultation from an Oral Surgeon that is your choosing and let them evaluate you and recommend a course of treatment. AT that time you can gauge what the treatment is, with what your dentist was trying to do, to see if they were up to the standard of care. At that time you would have a treating doctor on record and a lawyer might be much more agreeable to working with you because for malpractice to occur there are three things that must happen.

There has to be negligence--the hematoma is not negligence but the treatment following mighnt

The negligence has to be the cause of the problem. Failure to treat properly or refer, would fit this part

There should be a financial loss associated with the negligence. Costs for others to treat, time lost from work, costs of medications are financial components that can add uip as well as continued costs associated with treatment until you are healed.

I hope that this might help. I do wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I also mention that should you have specific questions I give my email address so that you can reach me directly

[email protected]