Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryanna
Hi sarahgee,
What your dentist may not have told you is that root canaled teeth are always infected to some degree because during the root canal procedure the nerve tissue cannot be removed from the microscopic canals. So the tooth always harbors some degree of infection from the dead nerves inside those canals. In some people the tooth flares up with symptoms soon after the rc procedure in other people it can take years for symptoms to develop. However, in either case there is an infection developing.
If you had an abscess which is typical of a root canaled tooth for the reasons that I mentioned above, then the antibiotics temporarily subsided the inflammation associated with the infection. Which could make the tooth look somewhat "better" on the recent xray. But in reality the infection was still present.
Did you see a general dentist or an oral surgeon? Do you know if the dentist scrape the bone clean of the periodontal ligament or did he just remove the tooth and put a piece of gauze in your mouth?
Do you know if there was a cyst at the end of the root tip prior to the extraction? This would show up on the xray as a black circle at the root tip just in case the dentist mentioned it or showed it to you on the xray.
Bryanna
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Hi Bryanna
Many thanks for your concern and help - it's much appreciated.
My dentist has always been careful to keep me in the picture about what is happening in my mouth, so I was aware of residual bacteria in root canal fillings.
The x-ray was taken when the symptoms first appeared and before I took any antibiotics. It showed no infection, and no cyst, at the base of the tooth (I used to work in radiography department - I could see there was no shadow when shown the x-ray).
It was diagnosed as a gingival abscess.
It was my own dentist who treated me.
He was concerned not to disturb the nerve (the bit which showed up as a tiny white blob near the root and which I don't remember the technical term for, but it deals with sensation to the lip) when extracting so did no additional exploration after taking the tooth and fragments out. He put in a gauze pad.
There was no cyst as far as I know. Certainly didn't show up on the x-ray.
A major concern for me is the length of time this is taking to 'heal', especially given I am not taking antibiotics because of my allergic reactions to two of them. I'm not sure how well my body can fight off the infection without some pharma assistance.
I think, given the issues you have raised for me, that I will ring the dentist today for a telephone consultation to check these issues out.
Many thanks. You have been really helpful in identifying issues for me!
It's much appreciated.