Hi Tab,

Glad to hear the oral wounds are healing. It is very important to be very gentle when using the irrigation syringe. Only use warm salt water or plain warm water in the syringe. If you use anything else to irrigate with you will slow down the healing.

Regarding the issue with the tooth that is hurting you.... Just to help clarify what a tooth infection really is so you can understand what is going on more clearly. Tooth infections do not show up on a dental xray until the bacteria has spread from the tooth into the periodontal ligament or jaw bone. That means that the infection is not new it is something that was present inside of the tooth for quite some time. Also, most tooth infections typically have no symptoms until the infection has spread. This infection might have been visible on the xrays that were taken prior to your recent extractions. Did your dentist mention anything about that tooth to you prior to today?

Also, a tooth does not become infected because a mercury filling was not replaced. They become infected because either a piece of the filling broke off or the filling was deteriorating and bacteria was getting in and decaying the tooth underneath the filling. The decay does not happen suddenly and either problem is visible both clinically and on dental xrays quite some time before the decay occurs.

There is a lot of information on this forum about root canals. If you are curious about learning more about them, just skim through some of the threads about root canals. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here.

Bryanna