Hi Bryanna,
The surgery went well yesterday! I am so glad I used IV sedation - as I didn't feel a thing until after the Novocain wore off and it seemed like the surgery was over in a heartbeat. The oral surgeon said that he found a large abscess at the tip of the tooth and the roots had penetrated into my sinus cavity like he suspected. He said that it should heal on its own as long as I follow the instructions to not blow my nose and if I sneeze, to open my mouth, ... I am continuing with the augmentin he prescribed as there was a lot of infection in there.

I continue to have tinnitus and a feeling of fluid and mild tingling/burning in my face, skull and ears, but hopefully, once the inflammation dies down, some of that will go away. I am just so glad to have that infected tooth out of my body. I forgot to ask the oral surgeon about how much necrotic bone tissue he found, but will ask him about this when I see him in a week. On my first visit to him, I asked him if he would scrape away all the dead bone and he said he would. He took a culture of the tooth and bone as I asked.

I presented him with my written concerns before the surgery. He was very supportive and not threatened at all by this. He did say that my implant looked good (before the surgery) and he did not think it was affected by all of this. I pray he is right. I am trying to take really good care right now by eating softer foods and rinsing with salt water very gently. I am not doing my usual routine and trying to rest more.

Is there any blood testing or are there any symptoms to look for to know whether this infection could have become systemic? That is my biggest fear, given the length of time I have had the odd symptoms (burning, tingling and feeling of fluid/pressure) in my ears and skull.

Thank you again for all of your guidance and support. Hopefully, things will continue to improve and all of these symptoms will be history in a few months.