A Huntsville/Madison, Alabama patient, Lorrie Hellier (founding member of the SOS) suffers permanent 24/7 numbness and burning/stinging pain in the chin/lips/gums after an overfill of Sargenti Paste (RC-2B) into the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (IAN) canal which runs under the bottom back molars (see diagram). The first xray, on the left, shows tooth #18 before the root canal procedure. Note that there is no material under the circled tooth. The xray below this on the left, shows the tooth after the root canal. There is a significant amount of paste outside the bottom of the tooth and inside the IAN canal. This overfill, approximately 6-7 mm is considered, by all standards, a gross overfill. The dentist, upon overfilling the root canal with Sargenti paste, was obligated to tell the patient that the overfill penetrated the nerve canal (regardless of the material). An immediate referral to an oral surgeon to remove the overfill with microsurgery would likely have stopped the spread of Sargenti Paste's toxic chemical effects along the nerve pathways. Instead, the dentists concealed that the toxic Sargenti paste inside the nerve canal was the cause of the patient's feeling numbness and burning/stinging pain in the lip, chin and gums. The dentist blamed local anesthetic (novacain) injections as the cause. Consequently, microsurgical removal of Sargenti paste was delayed until it was too late to make a difference. This photo taken during the surgery shows how the Sargenti Paste is spattered throughout the jaw as it is put in under pressure (white specs are pieces of the paste).  The surgeon was able to remove most of the pieces but some still remain in the jaw and have not resorbed after nearly 4 years..  This photo is of the tooth and paste removed during the surgery.  The rolled up piece of paste (under the tooth) had been wrapped around the Inferior Alveolar Nerve and is the reason for the irreversible damage. 

Because the surgery was delayed, the constant numbness and disabling burning/stinging pain persists to this day and will remain so for life. The Alabama Dental Board disciplined these dentists and the patient filed a dental malpractice lawsuit that was settled out of court (patient complaint, board charges, consent orders).  As a part of the dental board settlement, these dentists are forever required to use this board approved uninformed informed consent.  This consent form is lacking widely known information by our dental community, including that Sargenti Paste was rejected (1993) by the FDA for failure to prove safety and remains unapproved to this day.  The FDA states that "patients can not assume that these products are safe and effective".

Dr. M. Anthony Pogrel, DDS, MD published research in January 2007 in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) which shows that root canal overfills into the nerve canal if micro surgically removed within 72 hours completely reversed the nerve numbness and/or pain. Both doctor and patient should not delay surgical removal of Sargenti overfills into the nerve canal or anywhere else that results in patient complaints of pain and/or numbness. A patient should seek the help of an Oral Surgeon, not general dentist, for removal. Cone Beam 3D dental x-rays provide proof positive if Sargenti paste entry into the nerve canal is the cause of post-operative numbness or burning pain after a root canal.  They can likely be done at your state dental school for a small fee, possibly as low as $300 (before insurance).

The CT scan to the right is that of a New Jersey patient, Claudia Megaro (founding member of the SOS and subject of news story above), who suffers from chronic osteomyelitis (unstoppable bone infection).  This scan was taken early into her treatment that began in 2000. The yellow arrow points to the initial bone loss after an overfill of RC-2W (formaldehyde but reportedly no lead and mercury).  Her experience trying to get medical help are  discussed at this link. Her experience with the legal system was equally painful and never should have been necessary. 

Claudia was so severely damaged with life threatening injures at the hands of her dentist she has almost died more than once.  Her life continues to be threatented by recurring infections.  She lives on antibiotics and still has frequent infection flare-ups, likely because her problems were not treated timely.  Her dentist concealed his use of Sargenti Paste and she did not come to know about it until 5 years after she left the care of Dr. Cicero..

Claudia's infection has been uncontrollable for 9+ years and has eaten away the jawbone and floor of the sinuses, requiring rebuilding from leg bone, tissue, skin and blood vessels.  Her situation has been so horrific that when she discovered that she had hair growing on the roof of her mouth from using leg skin, all she could do was laugh.  Just one more thing in the day in the life of her horrific story.  

The second scan to the left (below) shows some of the pins (inside the red box) that are now present in her jaw after many, many surgeries to attempt to correct and stop the damage. Her medical bills are in excess of $600,000 and climbing. Although she settled a lawsuit, most of the money was spent to pay her attorney, reimburse her health insurance company, and to pay off outstanding copays and other out of pocket expenses from her 33%. There was little left for the future costs that she will incur for life.

Her dentist never disclosed that he used Sargenti paste until confronted in depositions and then claimed he did not know what it was, just that it was his favorite.  For five years Claudia searched for the real answer to her problems. It turned out to be Sargenti Paste. If only she had known early on, immediate surgery would have helped mitigate the severity and relentlessness of the infection.  Claudia filed a dental malpractice lawsuit against her dentist and settled the case just before trial. 

Claudia's case is similar to the most horrendous reported case of Sargenti damage which occurred in 1984 in Florida (Link). The story of this patient was part of a PrimeTime Live show that aired on February 8, 1990. Good Morning America and 60 Minutes have also done stories on the perils of Sargenti Paste over a decade ago. It is long past time to realert the public to help them stay out of harm's way.

Injuries from Sargenti Paste and other paraformaldehyde materials can include chronic sinus infections, temporary or permanent numbness and burning nerve pain, serious chronic bone infections, and even anaphylactic shock (link to September 2000, Journal of Endodontics article). The correlation to anaphylactic shock demonstrates that the formaldehyde does travel beyond the confines of a porous tooth.  A story in the Texas Dental Journal, March 1976, states that a woman's 1974 death is connected to this material.  Pieces of the material were removed from her lungs.

Many formulations of Sargenti Paste also include peanut oil, which can also send an allergic person into anaphylactic shock and even cause death. The lead and mercury in the pink formulation can also have serious negative effects on the patient. 

We had nothing unique about our dental problems that warranted deviating from the standard of care material, gutta percha.   We simply chose the wrong dentists and did not know the right questions to ask. None of the dentists involved in our care divulged that Sargenti Paste was used until confronted.   That concealment cost both of us valuable recovery, recovery that would not have left us with life altering and life threatening damage.  Had our overfills been with the standard of care material, gutta percha, we both believe our dentists would have divulged the problem immediately.