Hi Clutchgnp,

No it is not normal and it is a sign of infection. Please go see the oral surgeon this week to have him take and xray and evaluate it.

So is it an new infection brought on by the extraction or do you think my dentist failed to clear out my previous infection? I had a fistula-in-ano years ago and had a fistulotomy.it took two months for it to stop draining and heal and i thought it would be the same for this infection since my dentist told me it won't fully heal for a couple of months.i will make an appointment with my endodontics tomorrow.

Clytchgnp,

You need to see an oral surgeon as that is who deals with this type of dental issue. An endodontist performs root canals and some rc surgeries ... but would not be of help to you with this situation.

I think it is an ongoing infection from the time the tooth was root canaled. The infected nerve tissue inside of the accessory canals of the tooth cannot be removed during the rc procedure so the tooth is chronically infected. The infection eventually spreads into the jaw bone often resulting in the formation of a fistula. The fistulotomy is a procedure that focuses on the path that the bacteria has taken along the fistula tract from the tooth to outside the gum. However, this procedure does nothing to cure the infection that resides inside of the tooth so the bacteria continues to brew and proliferate. The gum may seem to heal over after this procedure but mainly because the bacteria has found a different path to travel. So the fistulotomy did not cure the problem it just postponed the inevitable.

Chances are you have quite a bit of bone loss where that tooth was as the long term infection damages the bone as the bacteria proliferates.

I am sorry if your dentists have not informed you of any of this... they certainly should have prior to doing both the root canal and the fistulotomy.

Please see an oral surgeon for this problem. It would be most helpful for you to have your xrays of this tooth either sent to him or given to you to bring to him including ALL pertaining to before, during and after the root canal and the fistulotomy of this tooth up to the very present.

Sorry if i didn't clarify it, but the fistulotomy that was done to me years ago was an **** fistula.i was just brining out the similarities.anyways, i did or do have a fistula in my gums.before the tooth was extracted i had a little pimple bump on my gum line.i'm fiarly sure when the dentist did the extraction he probably didn't do anything about the fistula.i'll talk to the dentist tomorrow and see if i can get squeezed in for a same day appointment.get this thing checked out and have him refer me to an oral surgeon.thank you for your help.

Clutchgnp,

Oh okay ... sorry I must have miss read in your post but you can have a similar procedure done in the mouth. But it's not successful as it would be in the ana....

If you had a general dentist do the extraction of the tooth then most likely the fistula tract was not touched. An oral surgeon would have most likely cleaned that out at the time of the extraction.

Yes, please seek the help of an oral surgeon. Keep us posted.

Yes, my butt had a boo boo before had a feeling the ana* word would be blurted out so i went with the medical term.anyways, i have one last question.can the procedure to remove my fistula from my gums by an oral surgeon fall under my medical insurance coverage?i had a lot of work done to my teeth and only have about $280 left in my dental coverage.probably something i should ask the oral surgeon, but if you can shed some light on it i can prepare for what i got to pay a little sooner.thank you again, you are really helpful.i'll post up my progress.

Nevermind.did some research and it may fall under medical.checked around my blue cross blue shield network and found an oral surgeon not far from my home.i will still go to my dentist tomorrow just to get it checked out anyhow.

Okay. Keep us posted.

Hi Everyone. I am new to this site as of today but am finding the information very helpful. I'm just learning my way around - I posted on a different thread earlier today, but believe I should have posted here since it gets so much visibility and I hope to get some input - Bryanna seems to be so educated about these dental issues and is helping so many people. My post from earlier:

I am a 44 year old female in good physical health until recently. I started having hearing loss in my left ear in January of this year. Originally I thought it was allergy/sinus related, which my primary care physician ruled out. Referred me to ENT who did hearing test, ABR (auditory brainstem response test) and VNG (videonystagmography). ENT says I have significant vestibular weakness and referred me to ear specialist who has ordered an MRI and another hearing test (ECoG). I believe the MRI is to help rule out an acoustic neuroma. Currently my symptoms include: significant hearing loss in my left ear, constant noise (wind/whirring/humming) in my ear, a constant feeling of fullness/pressure in the ear and left side of my head, tingling and burning (numbness) in my scalp and cheek that comes and goes, "light-headedness" and headaches and left eye-aches that feel sinus-related. I HAVE HAD UNEXPLAINED TOOTH PAIN THAT SHOOTS UP MY LIP, THE LEFT SIDE OF MY NOSE AND INTO MY HEAD for at least a few years. I am only now considering that it might be related to a root canal in one of my top front left teeth. I believe the root canal was done maybe 15+ years ago. My current dentist had not found any cause for the dental pain, but he is unaware of my hearing loss and other symptoms. It is important to note that I have suffered a few episodes of vertigo - one in 2008 and one last summer 2013 which the doctor diagnosed as labyrinthitus. My current ear doctor is waiting for additional test results but is leaning toward a diagnosis of a combination of Migraines and Meniere's disease. I am curious to see what he thinks about the possibility of a connection to the root canal. I would have this tooth removed in an instant if I knew for sure it is causing my health problems.

In my gut I feel like these symptoms could all be stemming from the old root canal. I welcome any input or advice.

After reviewing my dental records I now realize that my old root canal is on top right and my hearing loss and other symptoms are all on the left side. I thought it was important to add this information to my previous post.