Hi Nibbles,

I assume that you are seeing an oral surgeon or a dentist who performs ALOT of oral surgery?

Sometimes dentists do not fully explain a procedure to a patient because every case is a little bit different and they don't want the patient to get "stuck" on something they said and needlessly worry. Sometimes a dentist will get the feeling that a patient would prefer to not know too much and other times the dentist is just not that good at explaining things!

It sounds like you have had an ongoing problem that took alot of steps to get properly diagnosed. I'm glad that the CT scan was done and showed the area of infection. What were your symptoms and did you have any dental pain?

This type of situation can be a bit complicated depending on how much of the sinus has been affected by the infection. Although the CT scan shows a detailed picture, the surgeon won't know the extent until he removes the tooth. It is sometimes difficult to eradicate a long standing sinus infection from a tooth even once the tooth is removed. Antibiotics will be prescribed until he feels the infection has cleared.

As for the surgery itself, it's similar to any other extraction it just may take a little longer to debride the area and close the sinus membrane. It should not be painful to you during the procedure. Post operative pain is different for everyone and it depends on the surgery and your threshold of pain. The risks of this type of surgery are the inability to close the sinus due to the infection and a constant draining occurs. This eventually needs to be remedied because it will cause a chronic infection and can cause you to feel unwell. Another risk is breaking off a root tip in the sinus. If this occurs, then the root tip should be found and removed or the area will not heal properly. Both of those risks are very small and you should not concern yourself about either of them!!

It is imperative that you follow the surgeons home care instructions to the T. It is also very wise to prepare your diet ahead of time so you will have plenty of nutritious foods to eat and drink. Your immune system will need to be healthy while healing. Many times after we have surgery whether we are in pain or not, we just don't feel like doing anything........... so prepared meals that are easy to cook are ideal! Eat light and often, non spicy, no sugar, soft foods high in protein if possible. Drink lots of water and don't use a straw.

Homeopathic remedies that seem to be very helpful are hypericum, arnica, ruta, aconite, gelsemium, ledum, and phos. Sometimes you can purchase these together in one pill. This remedy helps to relieve anxiety, tissue and nerve trauma, bleeding, soreness and brusining. We use a formula with all of these ingredients called Pre Dental Procedure by Arrowroot. It is meant to be started the day before, then the day of and then continued for a few days after the procedure.

Arnica pellets can be used alone after the surgery as a pain killer and tissue healer. Our patients take it about 4 times a day for at least a week post operatively and some say they experience no pain or swelling!!!

If you are a smoker, now is the time to stop. Smoking can prevent the area from healing which could lead to multiple surgeries to close the sinus.

Please let us know how you are doing ~">"~

Bryanna