Hi diana,

I'm sorry to hear you are having so much trouble with this. I know you feel discouraged but try to look at it from a positive perspective in that it really was best to remove that infected tooth. There is a very good chance that these on going problems are related to having the root canal which caused several things to occur including the infection to spread to the jaw. Anatomically, an infection in the jawbone creates a slue of things to occur in the skeletal structure surrounding the infected tooth. It can become very complicated but let's just say one area is connected to another and another.......

What you are experiencing is frequently the aftermath of keeping an infected tooth instead of removing it. Of course your dentist didn't give you this information at that time, just like most other dentists with their patients. What you are experiencing occurs to some degree in most people with your original dental situation... either soon after the extraction or sometime down the road. I know this doesn't make it better...

One way to help diagnose an infection is to have some blood work done. A CBC w/differential and a C-Reactive Protein which is a marker for inflammation that often coincides with infection. Talk to your physician about other infection/inflammatory markers.

If there is an infection still in the jawbone at the surgical site, treatment would depend on clinical findings, your blood work, your xrays and your symptoms.

Again, I am so sorry you are dealing with this. Have you decided what to do about the infected tooth on the other side?

Bryanna