CH Dentist left broken equipment in my head, didn't tell me - Page 3

omtatsat · #41 11.10.2019, 08:40

	Quote:
	Maybe they should have left the wisdom tooth in.....

Luckily I kept them and put them under my pillow. Would maybe explain why I now have boundless wisdom!

cannut · #42 11.10.2019, 15:44

	Quote:	omtatsat
	When I was young I had a wisdom tooth taken out in hospital under full narcosis. Anyhow the extraction site got infected and the swelling from the operation did not go away. So I had to take antibiotics-for a whole year. The antibiotics did not help at all and the infection travelled from the bone to the outside on my cheek. So I had to go back under the knife and they had to open my cheek up and clear all the infection out. And in the process removing skin from my cheek. Well that solved the problem but left me with a cheek missing a piece of meat. I am sure it was bad operating hygiene in the hospital.

Ahhhh ! this explains it all

Harrie Nak · #43 23.10.2019, 10:47

LOL, exact same thing happened to me years ago, although it so far has never gotten infected.

Had a root canal treatment, metal brush was used to take root out, brush broke, second brush was used to take broken brush out, second brush broke as well, dentist decided to close it all together.

So much for that "great" Swiss health care!

curley · #44 23.10.2019, 10:53

	Quote:	Harrie Nak
	LOL, exact same thing happened to me years ago, although it so far has never gotten infected. Had a root canal treatment, metal brush was used to take root out, brush broke, second brush was used to take broken brush out, second brush broke as well, dentist decided to close it all together. So much for that "great" Swiss health care!

Much more interesting would be: Who produces those metal brushes?

autopoiesis · #45 23.10.2019, 11:14

Not knowing you had bits of metal in your head could have serious consequences, esp if ferrous (which tools would likely be AFAIK).

Hop in an MRI for a scan and that lost brush might make a break for it. Ouch.

Confirmation/correction from radiologist/medical types welcome.

curley · #46 23.10.2019, 11:22

	Quote:	autopoiesis
	Not knowing you had bits of metal in your head could have serious consequences, esp if ferrous (which tools would likely be AFAIK). Hop in an MRI for a scan and that lost brush might make a break for it. Ouch. Confirmation/correction from radiologist/medical types welcome.

Interesting question.

But I had MRIs with amalgam-fillings in my teeth. It was no problem (I think, LOL).

aSwissInTheUS · #47 23.10.2019, 11:27

	Quote:	autopoiesis
	Hop in an MRI for a scan and that lost brush might make a break for it. Ouch.

The tool is embedded in the tooth covered with filling. After reading this:https://www.yalemedicine.org/stories/mri-safety/
I would say the health risk is pretty minimal, and worst what can happen is a bad image quality.

Captain Greybeard · #48 23.10.2019, 18:34

	Quote:	autopoiesis
	Not knowing you had bits of metal in your head could have serious consequences, esp if ferrous (which tools would likely be AFAIK). Hop in an MRI for a scan and that lost brush might make a break for it. Ouch. Confirmation/correction from radiologist/medical types welcome.

Practically all those tools are made of alloys that basically could also be used as implants.

	Quote:	Harrie Nak
	Had a root canal treatment, metal brush was used to take root out, brush broke, second brush was used to take broken brush out, second brush broke as well, dentist decided to close it all together. So much for that "great" Swiss health care!

Happens pretty rarely but does happen, all over the world. In the course of 45 years of oral surgery and general dentistry I experienced three broken files and two broken reamers (there are no "brushes" used there). Those instruments are extremely thin (down to 0.08 mm) but fairly long (standard lengths 21 and 23 mm, longer versions if need be) and have to be able to go through pretty sharp bends.

	Quote:	aSwissInTheUS
	The tool is embedded in the tooth covered with filling. After reading this:https://www.yalemedicine.org/stories/mri-safety/

It is not always that simple, but I don't want to bore EFers with technical details.

	Quote:	aSwissInTheUS
	I would say the health risk is pretty minimal, and worst what can happen is a bad image quality.

Ha! Long before I became a dentist, I had a neighbor, who said she was such a bad alcoholic (usually 5 liters of beer per day) because decades ago a dentist broke an instrument inside a root canal and left it there.

makeabigwish · #49 01.11.2019, 10:34

	Quote:	nickatbasel
	You must have been in pain all that time.

No. Because the nerve was removed, I didn't feel anything, which is added to why the broken dental tool was undetected.

makeabigwish · #50 01.11.2019, 10:40

	Quote:	autopoiesis
	..... Hop in an MRI for a scan and that lost brush might make a break for it. Ouch. Confirmation/correction from radiologist/medical types welcome.

I learned the thing to ask for is a "3D Cone Beam CT Scan".

It is the technology which good Endodontists have in their office (at least in the US) that dentist don't.

It shows roots missed by the dentist, infections in the bone (in my case on upper jaw breaking into the sinus cavity), and a 3D image of problems of the tooth as opposed to a 2D xray which can be problematic interpreting because cast shadows, etc.