Originally Posted by atron23

Thank you Lara and thank you Bryanna. I really appreciate your insight on the situation. I just wanted to keep this posting updated as I am going through this, it has been almost therapeutic for me typing it out.

This morning I actually had an appointment with both my general physician and a cleaning at the original dentist who did the root canal, the dentist who did the extraction on the tooth is out of town for a few days so I figured I was due for a cleaning and they could probably do some x-rays on the area.

First, at my physician's appointment, I had a minor mental breakdown after dealing with all the symptoms for months now and explained to him all of what has been going on. I know that he is a physician, not a dentist, but I felt like I was getting nowhere with the dentists (they keep claiming there is no infection there, not even in the bone) and I had nowhere else to go. I told him I know my body and I know there is something wrong despite what the dentists show and tell me. Thankfully, he listened to me and I am now scheduled for an x-ray and a bone scan on that section of my jaw Thursday morning. He told me that this will at least tell me what is going on inside and if there is an infection in the bone, that I will have to be put on IV antibiotics and if need be, surgery. I'm getting some blood work done too to rule out any other infection going on in my body because he thought the lump under my jaw was a swollen lymphnode, and not the bone or tissue itself.

After my doctor's appointment, I had my cleaning and checkup at the dentist. My overall oral health is quite good, and the hygientist was happy with the health of my gums and teeth etc. I do have a broken filling in the tooth in front of the extracted tooth, but I don't think that is what has been bothering my jaw and the dentist said I can either have that filled or wait until I have a bridge put in since work would have to be done on that tooth anyway. He was pretty disappointed I ended up having to get the tooth extracted after the root canal, and explained to me that there must have been something wrong with the tooth from the very beginning, most likely a crack, and that all the antibiotics would have never helped with that. (Still not sure how I should feel that they continued to give me script after script after having the root canal done and the infection not leaving, besides the point though.)

I asked if there was any infection or signs of concern showing on the x-ray today and he showed me it and said no, there was nothing there. He said it looked fine, basically refusing to refer me to an oral surgeon because there was no reason to. He wants to give it a couple more weeks and obviously, if I have any more discomfort to come in and see him again.

I live in Ontario and it's difficult if not impossible to get into any type of surgeon without a referral from your doctor or dentist, and leaves us patients waiting for weeks to get into anywhere or just unable to get in because we need that referral, otherwise I would go above everybody and go straight to an oral surgeon. That's the "joy" of a public healthcare system (although dental isn't really included). Anyway, I'm hopeful that after the x-ray and bone scan that my doctor set up for me that it will give me the answers I am looking for, I will be sure to keep this posting updated as I know more.