Dad has been having problems with his back-most, upper left molar since June. He got it re-root-canaled in July in Bend (which cost a pretty penny) to no avail. Antibiotics helps breifly, but then the pain came back. A dull ache and pressure in the temple, toward his ear or eye. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories have helped, but it doesn't solve the problem. We had been doing some reading and feel it is an infection up in the bone caused by a tooth that is still a problem, even thought it doesn't show anything on an xray. we have been trying to find a dentist who will pull the offending tooth and clean out the socket and take a culture to see what anitbiotic will treat anytihng left in there. In the States, bio-dentists to t his all the time.
The first dentist we saw here would not consider pulling a 'perfectly good tooth,' and sent him to another guy for TMJ evaluation. After sitting in his office waiting room for a while, we decided to go home, and not waste the money or time.
We know of a alternative medicine MD in Manila who has an associate dentist with whom he works. We got his number and Dad talked to the dentist (Oh, you are very well informed!) and made an appointment for this morning at 10 am. The receptionist said it would take two hours. The plan was to arrive at 9 AM, see the dentist, and come back home on the 3PM flight. Dad bought the tickets (not cheap). Last night the dentist called and asked if he was in Manila yet. Said he had to see the alternative Dr. first and begin taking a whole lot of supplements! Dad siad that all he wanted was to have the tooth out, and that he was already taking a heavy regimen of vitamins to prevent diabetic neuropathy... No deal... So he didn't go, and will have to get a refund on the tickets, minus the no-show penalty. Sigh.
So today I called my friend Dr. Elena and asked about the lady I had met at her office one day, who is an ENT and does oral surgery. We had an appointment at noon today. She was great! Willing to read the stuff we had printed up about what needs to be done, and has an endodontist friend who will assisit her doing the operation on Thursday. Dad will have to check in on Wed. night, but he can leave in the afternoon. They will knock him out, it will be oral surgery (covered by insurance, we think) and should solve the problem! So praise the Lord that he didn't go to Manila today. We can have it done here, for what will probably end up being a lot less money and hassle.
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4 comments:
How frustrating!!! But I am glad that there is a better solution and the "runaround" ended up saving time and money. Hope all that gets taken care of soon. That infection sounds SO miserable!
So, how did it go with the dental surgery? Hope he feels better soon!
We got back from the hospital yesterday afternoon. The surgery took a lot longer than we were expecting. He ended up having three teeth removed, all on the upper left side. The Dr. said two had rotten roots and one was infected, and one tooth had actually fused with the bone, none of which showed up on the xray. No wonder he was having pain!
Now he has a really sore throat from the breathing tube they used, and air can pass between his mouth and sinuses through the hole, but the Dr. said that should close soon. We see her on Monday. She is REALLY nice!
That all just sounds so painful! We wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully this will have taken care of everything in there.
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