Hi Slyke,

Your description:
<<<Anyway, apparently I have an infection in a cavity below the root of my tooth.>>>

What you actually have is this.... a long standing infected tooth in which the bacteria has proliferated beyond the tooth into the jawbone. The truth is this tooth is not healthy and an apicoectomy CANNOT cure it because this procedure is nothing more than a surgical root canal. The tooth will remain infected and the exact problem that you now have will recur again and again. Each occurrence destroys more bone making replacement options very risky. The procedure itself results in so much inflammation that the bone often cannot heal completely even after the tooth is removed. Apicos are very expensive, very painful and considered barbaric by many dentists.

The antibiotic you are taking will subside your symptoms... and that is all it will do. It is not bringing the infection under control, it is simply reducing the inflammation. I am sorry if your dentist mislead you to thinking anything different than that.

You are wise to consider removing this tooth now before it gets worse. The best way to go about that would be to have it removed while you are still on the antibiotic. Go to an oral surgeon not a general dentist. Discuss bone grafting and when would be the best time to do that. If there is residual infection or unhealthy necrotic bone during the extraction, then the graft should be postponed. If the surgeon can debride the area CLEAN, then its ok to graft at the same time as removal. So these are things to discuss with the surgeon before the removal.

Replacement options for #19 can be an implant (only if the bone is healthy), a permanent bridge, or a removable appliance called a partial or a smaller removable called a nesbit. Talk these options over with your dentist.

I hope this information helps. All the best to you!
Keep us posted...
Bryanna