Hi Aslam,

Your symptoms are not unusual pertaining to an abscessed tooth because the infection is not localized to the tooth. Abscesses do not occur overnight, they take time to develop. So as the infection grows, the bacteria proliferates into the surrounding bone and tissue which stimulates the branches of nerves that correlate with the teeth in that quadrant.

The root canal procedure is not a cure for an infected tooth as there is no access to the many hundreds of microscopic canals inside the tooth. These canals will continue to harbor infected nerve tissue irrelevant of what is done to the tooth. A root canal procedure is an attempt to temporarily retain an infected tooth. Sometimes after the rc the initial symptoms of the infection will calm down and sometimes they will get worse. But the tooth remains infected irrelevant of the symptoms.

Antibiotics are not given to cure the tooth infection. They are given to reduce the bacteria and inflammation in the areas surrounding the tooth. Because the tooth is still infected, the antibiotic will not cure the surrounding infection.

The only current procedure to attempt to cure the infection is to remove the source of the infection which is extraction of the entire tooth along with the periodontal ligament and all visibly diseased bone and tissue.

An oral surgeon is the dentist to see for this type of extraction. However, it is important for the patient to inform the oral surgeon that you want him to remove the entire tooth, the periodontal ligament and all diseased tissue and bone. Although all of those things are suppose to be done very thoroughly with every tooth extraction to help prevent proliferation of infection and post operative complications, they unfortunately are often not done. But a well informed patient who makes that request often receives a thorough surgery.

In the meantime before you see the surgeon, salt water rinsing 3 times a day will help reduce some swelling. Avoid mouthwash as it is too irritating to the oral tissue and can exacerbate the symptoms. Drink several glasses of water during the day to stay well hydrated and help remove some toxins from the infection.

I am going to attach a diagram of the anatomy of a tooth to give you a visual of the size and number of accessory canals in every tooth that are inaccessible and harbor infected nerve tissue. They are called Dentin Tubules and each tan colored line represents each tiny canal.

The soonest you can get in to the oral surgeon the better. He should also take his own radio-graph. Please let us know how you're doing.

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