I went to the dentist today and sure enough, my tooth root is indeed inflamed and likely infected. It is not the tooth I thought it was though, it is my very back molar on my bottom left jaw. I will attach a photocopy of the x-ray below and highlight the area the dentist is concerned with (apparently I can't upload the image until I post 10 times, so will get to that and post the pic).

I have been referred to an endodontist/periodontist for a consultation for root canal March 2nd. I have been given Amoxicillin 500mg to take, which I will be taking with probiotics since this is at least my 6th time on antibiotics in the past year (all tooth related issues).

I'm hoping someone may have a little insight in to the situation with this tooth.. I'm hesitant to get the root canal done because not only is cost a huge factor for me, but I just had a root canal fail a couple months ago and ended up having to extract that other tooth anyway. Since the tooth is infected, would the wisest decision be to not bother with root canal and extract? My reasoning is I don't want to try to hang onto an infected tooth ; I tried that for almost a year with my previous tooth issue and almost ended up losing my job because I was so sick all the time. Would it be wise to keep my money from my root canal, have the extraction performed and have it replaced whether that be implant or bridge or should I try everything I can to save it?

Oh and one more thing. I could have sworn it was my second last molar that was the issue, not the very last one. When the dentist was tapping both teeth, the second molar felt "hollow" to me. I let the dentist know that but she didn't seem too concerned. As I'm looking at my x-ray closer now, I think I see a bit of black underneath the root of that tooth as well. Please someone tell me I'm just freaking myself out!