Marianne's Story of Sargenti Paste

In 1985, Marianne went to a general dentist for a toothache. Her dentist used the highly toxic material, known as Sargenti Paste in a root canal performed on one of her lower right molars. Marianne was nauseous and feverish that same night. She returned to the dentist the next day reporting of numbness. Her nausea and fever continued for a couple more days before she again returned to the dentist. On this visit, the dentist completed the root canal using Sargenti Paste and extruded paste beyond the apex (bottom) of the tooth. Marianne was not told of the extrusion. The next morning, Marianne again returned to the dentist complaining of numbness and burning pain in her lip and chin. Her dentist did not tell her about the overfill but instead that the probable cause of her symptoms were from "nicking" the nerve with the novacain injection. Over the next two weeks, the pain worsened as did the nausea. On yet another visit to the dentist she was told about the novacain inject again and to take more pain pills. Again Marianne went back to the dentist seeking relief from her pain and other symptoms but her dentist was not in the office. She saw the partner who told her that he was not going to touch the work that the other dentist had done. Marianne then went to an oral surgeon who called the dentist and was told that Sargenti Paste was used. The oral surgeon, in an immediate course of action, performed surgery to remove the overfilled material. This surgery occurred approximately 2 weeks after the initial treatment by her dentist. Her dentist testified that he did not think that the paste was close enough to the alveolar nerve to cause problems and that he thought he might have inadvertently "nicked" the alveolar nerve in giving patient her injection. He failed to disclose a serious root canal problem as seen in other cases where Sargenti Paste is used. Marianne, today, some 20 years later, reports that her pain went away after the surgery but remains completely numb in the lip and chin area.

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