FlavorAir,
I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here. Thanks for the detailed descriptions. Your dental problem is fairly typical as in common and perhaps your dentist should been more informative with you. If she told you that you did not have an infection, she misspoke because ALL tooth decay is infection and the longer it is present the more proliferated the infection becomes. For another she should have discussed your sinus issues as being a possible connection to the infection inside of your teeth. I will re-post your questions and answer them in bold.
<<<1. Is this kind of pain - seemingly between two teeth and causing a headache - considered "normal" or within the range of what one might feel after two adjacent root canals? If so, how long should I deal with it until I should get worried and talk to someone?>>
DO NOT LET ANYONE CONVINCE YOU THAT THIS IS "NORMAL" PAIN AS IN "WAIT IT OUT" AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. EVEN IF THIS PAIN SUBSIDES, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN CURED.
THIS PAIN IS "TYPICAL" WHEN THERE IS INFLAMMATION AND INFECTION PRESENT. YOU MAY HAVE WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS a PERIO/ENDO INFECTION. THIS MEANS THAT YOUR TEETH AND YOUR GUM/BONE ARE CONNECTED. THIS TYPE OF INFECTION OCCURS WHEN A TOOTH HAS HAD A DEEP CAVITY FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME AND THE BACTERIA THAT CAUSED THE DECAY SPREAD BEYOND THE TOOTH INTO THE TISSUE/BONE SURROUNDING THE TEETH. IT CAUSES A DEEP POCKET AND/OR BONE LOSS TO FORM INTER-PROXIMALLY (IN BETWEEN THE TEETH) AND IT HAS ALSO INVADED THE PULP CHAMBER CAUSING THE NERVES TO BECOME INFECTED. IN YOUR CASE, BASED ON YOUR HEALTH HISTORY CONCERNING YOUR SINUSES... THE BACTERIA MAY HAVE ALSO SPREAD TO THE SINUS AREA PRIOR THE ROOT CANAL THERAPY THUS THE PREVIOUS SINUS INFECTIONS.
<<2. Could all of this pain I'm getting be from the sinus infection(s)? Could sinus infection pain cause referred pain from #2 & #3 to #31 & #30?>>
THE SINUS AND THE UPPER MOLARS ARE OFTEN DIRECTLY IN DIRECT CONTACT OR WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY WITH EACH OTHER. AN INFECTED TOOTH CAN INFECT THE SINUS AND VICE VERSA... BUT IT'S USUALLY THE TOOTH TO SINUS MORE SO THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
A SINUS INFECTION CAN CAUSE TOOTH PAIN EVEN IN TEETH THAT ARE HEALTHY. BUT IN YOUR CASE, I WOULD VENTURE TO SAY THAT TEETH #2 AND 3 HAVE A CORRELATION WITH YOUR SINUS INFECTION. TEETH #30 AND 31 MAY BE HURTING FROM REFERRED PAIN OR THEY MAY ALSO HAVE INFECTED NERVES FROM THE TOOTH DECAY.
<<3. What else could be going on? Should I go to my doctor and ask about a CT scan, since the x-rays may not be telling the whole story?<<
UNFORTUNATELY IF THE TWO UPPER TEETH ARE TO BLAME FOR THE SINUS INFECTION, WHICH IS HIGHLY PROBABLE, THE ONLY WAY TO BEGIN TO HEAL THE INFECTION IS TO REMOVE THE TWO UPPER TEETH BECAUSE THE BACTERIA IN THOSE TEETH WILL PREVENT THE SINUS INFECTION FROM CLEARING. IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW THAT NEITHER OF THESE TEETH WILL NEVER BE HEALTHY AGAIN AS ROOT CANAL THERAPY CANNOT MAKE A TOOTH HEALTHY AGAIN. THE RC PROCEDURE IS DONE TO ATTEMPT TO "RETAIN" A TOOTH FOR AN UNDETERMINED AMOUNT OF TIME, NOT "CURE" IT.
I have seen this situation countless times and I think it is possible that your x-rays may be telling a different story. If you can obtain the x-rays and are comfortable sharing them here... please feel free to do so. Just make sure that your name is not visible.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlavoredAir
I've done a great deal of searching on the web about my issues, and I've come up fairly dry, so I'm hoping you guys and gals will be able to help me out a bit.
Some background about me:
32 years old, type 2 diabetic with fairly severe sleep apnea (being treated with CPAP). My wisdom teeth were extracted in 2001. I potentially have TMJ, but it's not been confirmed. I've had one real humdinger of a sinus infection in Nov/Dec, which was treated with Avelox (antibiotic), Prednisone (steroid), and Diflucan (antifungal), though the sinus infection may have returned recently (though not as bad as originally).
It all started in late October, while eating dinner, I noticed that molar #3 (upper right) had lost the filling that I'd had done almost 20 years earlier. The next day, I went to my dentist (whom I hadn't seen in 2 years, I know, I know...) and he said, after x-rays and an examination, that there was definitely some deep decay, and that the tooth *might* need a root canal. He also found several other cavities including a rather large one on the back of molar #2 (right behind the molar with the lost filling).
He filled #3, crowned #2, and also put fillings on the bottom two molars (#31 and #30), same side, because there were interstitial cavities.
I need to state at this point that before I went in to see the dentist, I had no pain in any of my teeth at all. Zip, zero, nada.
Since then, I've experienced pain between molars #2 & #3, and the same pain frequently (but not always) between molars #31 & #30. I've been told that it's likely referred pain for the bottom molars, but I'm questioning that now. Also, I experienced some cold sensitivity on the two uppers, but no pain or pressure sensitivity on the bottom two.
Three weeks ago, I had a root canal on #3, and a few days later I got the temp crown put in. I was still having the same pain between #2 and #3, and still frequently (but not always) having pain between the bottom two molars. The pain always feels like it's between both sets of molars, and not directly in one of them.
On Monday of this week (two days ago), I had #2 root canaled. Thankfully, the crown wasn't cracked, and so she did the permanent filling at the end of the procedure. While neither of the root canaled teeth are cold sensitive anymore, I'm still having the same strange pain between the top two (now canaled) molars, and occasionally between the bottom two.
I realize that it's only been a few days since the second root canal, and that some pain is to be expected, but the fact that the pain is essentially the same as it's been for over a month (minus the cold sensitivity, which is now completely gone), is really starting to worry me. If the root canals were supposed to fix the issues I was having, I would expect the pain to be gone, or different at least - not the same odd pain between the teeth & headache.
I also need to point out that none of the x-rays done - of which I've had at least ten including two of those "full facial" ones with the x-ray machine that circles your head - have shown any signs of infection or abscess, and when the endo did the procedures she said that there was no sign of infection at all - just deep decay between the filling & the pulp in #3, and that the crown on #2 was aggravating the pulp.
So, that said, I'm sorry for the long story I've posted so far, but I wanted to be complete so as to get good answers. Here's my questions:
1. Is this kind of pain - seemingly between two teeth and causing a headache - considered "normal" or within the range of what one might feel after two adjacent root canals? If so, how long should I deal with it until I should get worried and talk to someone?
2. Could all of this pain I'm getting be from the sinus infection(s)? Could sinus infection pain cause referred pain from #2 & #3 to #31 & #30?
3. What else could be going on? Should I go to my doctor and ask about a CT scan, since the x-rays may not be telling the whole story?
Thanks in advance for any help or answers you can offer. I really appreciate it.
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