After having an apico, my adjacent teeth are wiggly, although not to the point of coming loose. Before the surgery, the dentist did extensive sensitivity testing to the problem tooth and adjacent teeth including tapping with a blunt instrument, and the adjacent teeth never felt the slightest pain. The general dentist had commented that he wouldn’t want to alter the adjacent teeth to install a bridge because they were healthy teeth.
After the surgery, one of the adjacent teeth has a divot on the top that my general dentist referred to as a “fracture”, and I now feel pain from that tooth on a regular basis since the surgery. After surgery, I noticed the divot by moving my tongue along the top edge. The implant dentist, who is associated with the apico dentist, has commented on the root damage to the adjacent teeth, but I didn’t notice they’re wiggling until I tried wiggling them out of curiosity about a week ago.
I asked before the apico if there would be any risk to the adjacent teeth if the apico failed, and the dentists said no, it’s a more “gentle” solution than getting an implant. I hadn’t had a cavity or loss of tooth in decades before the surgery, so I can’t see the sudden post-operative appearance of wiggly teeth being due to a lack of dental hygiene on my part, although that’s what the dentists seem to be inferring. I tried to give the apico tooth a chance, and didn’t have it yanked until almost a year after surgery when it broke while I ate a semi-frozen food out of the freezer.
One of the wiggly teeth has slightly changed it’s angle so it hits an upper tooth which now has intermittent pain. So I may wind up losing another three teeth because of a failed surgery. Should I request monetary compensation? Would the only recourse be a lawsuit, and generally how successful are lawsuits versus dentists? Would my general dentist be willing to help or is there a code of silence among dentists? I don’t know how I could get anywhere with this without the help of a dentist.