Hi pixiedust.
First let me............SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMM............OMG!
I am so sorry you are going through this BS. The dentist that pulled your tooth is .........st*pid. Sorry, but he should NOT have attempted this difficult extraction in the first place... to make it worse, he should have stopped midway and sent you to the oral surgeon. He should have known that he broke off a piece of the root but he either didn't look at what he had removed to check if all the pieces were out OR he got scared when he saw the sinus perf and didn't look any further.
It is understandable that the oral surgeon didn't initially pick up on the root tip because by then it was probably at an angle/location that was not obvious on the 2 dimensional xray. Thus the CT scan picked it up right away as well as the nasal fistula.
Yes, the surgery to rermove the root is necessary because that root tip can cause havoc up there which would be very difficult to treat. The post op recuperation varies from one person to another mainly because of the various degrees of surgery involved, it's really a case by case situation. Generally the patient is fairly sore/uncomfortable for the first few days, thus the pain meds. It is advisable if at all possible you plan on taking it very easy for at least the first few days... plan ahead a soft diet menu with plenty of protein and fiber...take a probiotic (like Culturelle) starting now and stay on that for at least 3 months or indefinitely is actually best... drink plenty of water throughout the day (no straw)... no smoking.... no alcohol... no mouthwash....make sure to follow the surgeons post op instructions to the T to avoid complications.
If this were me.... I would call the original dentist and inform him of what you are having done...in my opinion, he is completely responsible and therefore should pay the surgery bill. Seriously.... I would suggest this to everyone... including my own patients!
Please keep us posted on how you're doing! Will keep you in our thoughts and hope everything goes well and easy.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixiedust
Hi Bryanna
I am new to the forum but hope you might be able to give me some advice or even words of wisdom! I had a tooth out in early September (on the top last one at back). The extraction was long and difficult and the dentist said I had very long roots. I know this to be true as previous dentists and x rays had confirmed I had long curly roots. After the tooth finally came out, the dentist told me I had a communication into my sinus and needed to see an oral surgeon to assess if a surgical closure was necessary. I saw the surgeon a few days later and he took an xray and told me he thought it should heal up by itself but would monitor me for a while to make sure. He also put me on a course of Augmentin to prevent infection. Despite the antibiotic I developed a really bad infection which needed further stronger antibiotics and the whole thing left me wiped out. The next visit a week or so later seemed to confirm the perforation was closing however a few days later I started to feel like I had another sinus infection and the pain and pressure in that side of my face was unreal. A trip to the G.P. ensued and I left with lots of pain killers and a 10 day course of augmentin and flagyl together which totally left me wrecked. At the end of the course I still felt shaky but put it down to the effects of the antibiotics. I mentioned it to the oral surgeon on my scheduled visit and he decided to send me for a CT scan. The scan revealed that there was complete opacification of the right maxiallary antrum and evidence of oro antral fistula. The biggy though-residual tooth root lying in the cavity of the right antrum. As the dentist had not told the oral surgeon that the extraction was incomplete, this option had not even been considered. While I am glad a cause for my ongoing infections and pain has been found, I am dreading the procedure to remove the root. I am scheduled to have it done under G.A. this week. The oral surgeon plans to open the gum at original site, go in and clear out sinus cavity, remove the tooth root and repair the defect. It has to be done but ... Does this sound like the correct course of action? What is my recovery likely to be like? Many thanks for any advice.
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