Hi Reeny,
Removing the infected tooth, #29, was the first step in removing the infection. Yes, the tooth was the culprit and to keep it would not have been a healthy decision because it was not going to get any better.
FYI........ many, not all, general dentists are trained to perform root canal therapy just as well as Endodontists. Who knows whether or not your dentist was or wasn't. However, the procedure itself has many flaws which include the inability to sterilize a tooth and cure the infection. So this could have happened irrelevant of who did the root canal. Sometimes the swelling occurs immediately and other times it can take months or years for it to show clinical signs of infection.
The swelling you had was extreme and the burst of infection that you experienced which was also extreme are a sign that there is an ongoing infection brewing in your jawbone. It is very different than a cyst or pimple on the skin........there is no similarilty whatsoever. It can swell up again and burst again like that or it can proliferate in the jawbone affecting other teeth and jawbone or it can internalize and travel elsewhere. From all that you have described, it counsd like this infection is by no means gone and the antibiotics may at most, minimize the clinical symptoms temporarily.
My suggestion is to go back to the oral surgeon/dentist who extracted the tooth. Tell that office when you call all about what you have experienced and it still feels like it's infected. He legally has to see you asap because he rendered dental treatment to you that resulted in a big infection. He may or may not have done anything wrong during the surgery, but he is still responsible to see your situation through to the end or refer you to someone else who can help you.
Knowing what I know....... this should not go on too much longer and no, unfortunately nature will not heal this infection.
Have you read Kami's post about her jaw infection? She ended up very ill, on IV antibiotics and had to have a piece of her jawbone removed due to the infection. Oral infections involving the jawbone are very serious and should NEVER been left up to nature to clear up.
Please see the dentist asap to have an xray to see what is going on in that extraction site. Please keep us posted!!
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reeny
Bryanna,
As you know on Tuesday 7/8 I had the "source of infection" molar #19 extracted after having a disasterous root canal attempted by a general dentist (which I found out later is an automatic no-no that he shouldn't have done it and should have sent me to an Endodontist-what do I know I never had a root canal before -I took his word on "good faith" . The swelling in what I will assume after researching to the nth degree was in the vestibule (area between cheek & gum). After the tooth extraction the swelling wouldn't go down, and got quite worse 7/13/7/14. By the afternoon of 7/14 the puffiness inside my mouth was higher than the gum line (whichbecame too painful to open my mouth) BUT by late afternoon I felt a sudden gush in my mouth and my gum had "exploded" and out came blood & yellow/brown crap & yellow stuff thick like phlem. Totally gross!! As of today 7/16 the swelling has gone done but have a hurting gum/vestibule/a little swelling and feel like it still wants to swell and or ooze.. I'm still on the clindamycin and flagyll. Good news I guess, should I still go back to the Oral Surgeon or let nature heal it .... Except for some minor discomfort I am no way in the acute pain I was before it burst. FYI, Everyone thinks I need a lawyer to sue my dentist who shouldn't have done a molar Root canal in the first place .........any comments? BTW, I tried to go see the oral surgeon who took a look at the face swelling/infection on June 16th who actually prescribed more antibiotics including the flagyll (which is the "now" antibiotic prescribed for jaw infections)-they claimed they couldn't see me until end of July because of "all the college kids home getting their wisdom teeth pulled"..I called every day to no avail.......I had to do a telephone book search to find another oral surgeon who could see me as an emergency and pull the darn tooth via novacaine.
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