Hi theprincess.
First of all the antibiotic has only temporarily subsided the symptoms and reduced some of the acute inflammation in the bone. The symptoms will return and with a vengeance. It is best to have this tooth removed while on the antibiotics.
Secondly, although the tooth seems to have been "fine" all of these years.... it really hasn't been. It's been infected for 33 years or longer. The bone loss and bone infection is indicative of a long term infection.
There is no "cure" for this infection inside of this tooth. Re treating it with another root canal or a surgical apicoectomy will do nothing to change the necrotic bacteria inside of the tiny canals that have been infected for 33 yrs.
From your description.... it sounds like the infection may have spread up into your sinus area. It is important for you to know that sinus infections caused by tooth infection are considered very serious, especially if it has been present for a long time, because your brain is only 4 inches from the sinus and the infection has the potential to spread. It is important to know that the longer the infection is present the larger it will become.
To keep this tooth means to keep the infection. To remove this tooth means to remove the source of the infection.
I would suggest that you see an oral surgeon for the extraction as a general dentist most likely will not clean out this area of bone as well as it should be.
You'll be okay.... just please don't wait to get it taken care of.
Keep us posted.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by theprincess007
I was trying to find information about infections and came across this site. I have read that it is better to extract the tooth (#14) than to do another root canal. The question I have is that pain began monday night with a sinus headache on the left side, and through the night, my tooth began to hurt. I attributed this to sinus pressure, and as the day wore on, the pain lessened. I did hear a slight pop in my left ear, and it felt "clogged". Tuesday night the pain was back, and the tooth hurt more and more. Wednesday night I woke up every 2 hours, percocet did nothing for the pain. I saw my dentist, he said I should see the endodontist, and prescribed penicillin. The endo said there is an infection in the root canal and slight bone loss. The options were remove the tooth, and then bridge or implant, or re-do the root canal. She did not say there was no way to completely remove the infection, though. I started taking 800mg ibuprofen as soon as I left there, then the penicillin an hour later. By friday morning, 95% of the pain was gone, and my tooth felt like "it was back in place". Before, it felt like it was being pushed down from above. My left sinus started draining a clear fluid, as if a faucet had opened up. I am now able to again chew on the left side. There is a lot of swelling in my left cheek still. The root canal was done 33 years ago, and this is the first time there has ever been a problem. What would your recommendation be? I'm not sure if this is caused by sinuses or root canal problems. Thank you for any information.
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