Hi Magi,

You are faced with a complex situation. However, I can simplify it for you but only you can make the best decision for you.

A root canal is done in an attempt to TEMPORARILY retain a tooth in your mouth. Once the root canal is done, the tooth is nonvital (dead) due to the severing of the nerve which connected the tooth to your blood supply. Keep in mind that every living organ and body part including teeth require nourishment from the blood supply to be healthy. During a root canal, some of the nerve material is removed from the larger canals but the millions of microscopic canals inside the tooth that are not accessible will continue to harbor nerve material that becomes necrotic due to the lack of nourishment because of the lack of blood supply to the inside of the tooth.

I emphasize temporarily because most dentists do not inform their patients of this fact. They also do not inform patients of the necrotic material that remains in the tooth nor what this necrosis eventually does to the jawbone surrounding the tooth. In your case, your sinuses would also be affected by this necrosis going on in the tooth and bone.

It does not matter what specialist you see to perform the root canal procedure.... it does not matter what instrument is used or not used.... even laser root canals can only debride the large canals because a laser beam can only travel in a straight line and the microscopic canals are windy, curvy, loopy and incredibly tiny. Even the best of the best cannot sterilize a tooth so it is ridden of all of the necrotic nerve material, it's just not possible.

So in a sense, you currently have a chronic sinus condition that is undoubtedly going to be very hard to get rid of, but not impossible if all of the irritants are removed. Keeping a dead tooth in or near a chronically infected sinus may keep your sinus condition at status quo or could make it worse.

Chewing will be a challenge, at least temporarily if you decide to remove that molar. But you may be able to replace it with a removable appliance or a dental implant some time in the future.

I leave you with this one last thought.....
Countless literature informs us that there is no place in the body that it is medically or scientifically acceptable to keep a dead body part. If you are curious about that, ask your endodontist why it is then acceptable and healthy to keep a dead tooth in our mouth which is the opening to our entire immune system?

I know this is a difficult decision. But sometimes we just have to step away from the symptom and evaluate what the condition is doing to our overall well being.

Please keep us posted on how you are doing! We wish you all the best!

Bryanna