My sinus perf was in fact repaired by an oral surgeon (I'm afraid my english isn't what it should be ;)) I had to call my dr last monday, cause she wanted to be sure my fever was gone and I could go to work (which luckily was the case). I still have to take the antibiotics and I have an appointment with the oral surgeon next monday. Can they still place the membrane? And can they do that using local anesthesia? I'm a bit worried about all the antibiotics I've been taking (the 4th box in 2 months).

Thanks for all the answers!

Hi sushitastic,

It is concerning to take so much antibiotic medication because for one thing it destroys much of the healthy bacteria in the digestive system. Do you take a probiotic every day? This is a nutritional supplement that helps to restore the good bacteria in the digestive tract that is killed off by the antibiotic. An excellent one is called Culturelle.... can be bought online at vitacost.com.

The membrane can still be placed and most of the time using local anesthetic. After you give the oral surgeon your symptoms, he will take an xray to determine if the membrane is still in place and to evaluate the area for signs of a perf.

Just keep doing what you have been doing and keep avoiding those things that you know you should.

Let us know how your appointment goes on monday!

Bryanna

Hello,

my appointment had been rescheduled to today. I'm feeling much better now and the wound is healing, I can feel that the hole is getting smaller as less air is running through it as I speak or breathe. The oral surgeon told me to come and see him again next week to remove the stitches. He recommended to leave them in for one more week to advance the healing. My cheek is also still a bit swollen, but I'm sooooo relieved that everything is finally healing nicely!

Yay! That's great news.... hopefully everything will continue to heal just fine. Thanks for letting us know =))

Hi Bryanna,

It's getting so frustrating. The dentist is having trouble making a disk of the icat to send to the radiologist. It's been 3 or 4 weeks not that I've been waiting. They keep making corrupted disks. Tomorrow they are having someone remote look at their data online to try to find out what the problem with their machine is. I've about given up on thinking they'll ever get this straightened out, but a radiologist report would sure be helpful.

I'm wondering now about flying for a Thanksgiving trip. I canceled my flight in September because of all the symptoms going on. The salty drainage has stopped. The air escaping is less, but it's most noticeable if I lay on the side of the extraction and swallow. Then I can hear soft noises. Thanksgiving will be 3 months after the extraction. What do you think about flying? I just wish I had the additional information of a radiology report.

As far as runny nose, it now seems to be just a little bit of wetness after eating. It's not exactly normal for me, but seems pretty minor now.

Thanks. Carol

Hi Carol,

It is up to the dentist to find a way, whether it be new software in his office or seek outside help, to get you a copy of that icat. He is responsible to make a copy in a reasonable amount of time. I agree that the radiologist report would be helpful.

With that said..... it sounds like the perf is healing based on your current symptoms. However, it may or may not be completely healed by thanksgiving. Sometimes a tiny perf will not be problem if you were to fly. But without someone evaluating the situation just prior to flying, there is no way to guess what the outcome would be.

Boy, this has been a long ordeal and very disruptive to your life! Hopefully things will resolve soon. Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,

Was wondering if it is okay to have a crown done while I'm still dealing with a perforation and healing? Or is it better to wait with the crown? A tooth needs a crown eventually, though it is not necessary to have it done right away. There is no problem with the tooth right now, other than it has a huge filling and will need a crown at some point.

A dentist is putting pressure on me to have the crown done. I have a temp crown on a tooth right now. The dentist wants to also put a crown on the tooth next to the temp crown. He says if we do both crowns at the same there will be better control with the crowns. I see him on Monday. Last time I saw him, he said we need to do both crowns or nothing. I hope he doesn't have that attitude on Monday. Also, if I wait till next year with the additional crown my insurance will cover it.

Thanks! Carol

Hi Carol,

The sinus perf is irrelevant to having crowns put on other teeth. The reason he wants to do both at the same time is because of a few reasons... one, less chair-time because less vists ....... two, the fewer the visits, the fewer the anesthetic injections..... three, the lab can make the porcelain on both crowns from the same dye lot, so they will match perfectly. If done at two separate times, the porcelain may not be exactly the same hue although this may or may not be too noticable..... and four, the crowns could be made from the same mold taken of your mouth which means the bite will not have to be readjusted as much.

As for the insurance.... you may be close to your yearly maximum at this point and want to hold off with the second crown until next year to get some coverage on it. Ask your dentist to submit one crown for this year and the other one in January. To make this legal, you could ask him to cement one permanent crown on in December and the other one in January! This way both crowns are made at the same time, the porcelain dye lot is the same, and there will be minimum bite adjustments for both crowns. You would only be in the chair one extra visit which would be to insert the crown in January. Did I explain that ok......??

Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna,

You explained it perfectly. Dentist is acting like he wants to wait for all the perf symptoms to be gone before he does the second crown. That could take quite a while yet, since last time the symptoms didn't stop for 5 or 6 months.

The tooth with the temp crown is right next to the extraction site. He says he needs to let it heal more to get a decent impression. Does that sound right?

I was told that a good copy was able to be made of the icat now. So if everything goes right, I might get the results from the radiologist to read the scan in a week.

Carol

Hi Carol,

Well, with regard to taking an impression....if there is an opening from the sinus through the gum tissue, meaning there is still a hole or depression in the gum tissue connecting to the sinus perf.... then it is best to wait until the area has healed completely. Or if the dentist feels that the suction from removing the impression material from your mouth is going to disturb the sinus perf, then it is best to wait. Otherwise, if the sinus perf is practically closed up and there is no communication to the mouth, an impression should be ok. But he should be the judge of that because he is looking at it clinically.

Also, iIf the surgical site has not filled in completely, then it is best to wait to take the impression for the crown.

Glad to hear that they finally have a good copy of the icat!
Keep us posted on the findings of that!

Bryanna