[StarBurry]

I had a root canal done when i was 16, i am now 23. The root canal was poorly done with no crown being put on but more of a long term temp cap. The cap started to leek and i ended up with an infection a good size under my tooth. In the xray it appeared as a black hole in my jaw.

I went in for a retreat Thursday, woke up the next day in alot of pain and with a swollen lymph node on the side of the root canal. Day by day is has just gotten worse. Today i slept 12 hours and woke up still tired. I still have a swollen painful lymph node and pain in my tooth and now swelling under my tongue on the side of the root canal with a sore on it. Im also on clindamycin. Its tooth number 32. I want to do everything i can to save my tooth. Does it seem savable? I have read alot saying no and yes. If i were to have it pulled, with it being my last tooth how would it be replaced? Im very stressed about this.. i really want to save my tooth and not be in pain..

[Bryanna]

Hi StarBurry,

The first thing to know is that your tooth has been infected for at least 7 years since the first root canal was done. The fact that the tooth showed obvious signs of an infection later on has nothing to do with the original root canal being done improperly or with the tooth not being crowned. All root canaled teeth remain infected because there is no access to the tiny canals that contain infected nerve material. Eventually all root canaled teeth show signs of infection. Usually this occurs when the bacteria has spread from the tiny canals through the tooth into the jawbone. Such as in your case where the xray shows a "black hole in the jaw". That is exactly what is in your jaw.... a black hole of infection. There is no procedure that can cure the infection inside of your tooth. The longer you keep this tooth, the larger the hole will become in your jawbone and the further the infection will spread.

The swelling under you tongue is a bad sign. You need to get to a dentist asap. This type of swelling can close off your airway. The antibiotic may or may not temporarily reduce this type of swelling. I would not wait if it were me.

I know you want to keep this tooth... however... keep in mind that there is no way to make this tooth healthy again. There is no way to "save" as in cure the infection in this tooth that has spread to your jawbone and obviously lymphatic system.

I am being blunt with you because you have a serious situation and it should not wait to be treated. The only way to remove the infection is to remove the source of the infection which is the tooth. Only see an oral surgeon for the removal of this tooth... not a general dentist.

Please check back with us to let us know how you are doing!
Bryanna

Originally Posted by StarBurry

I had a root canal done when i was 16, i am now 23. The root canal was poorly done with no crown being put on but more of a long term temp cap. The cap started to leek and i ended up with an infection a good size under my tooth. In the xray it appeared as a black hole in my jaw.

I went in for a retreat Thursday, woke up the next day in alot of pain and with a swollen lymph node on the side of the root canal. Day by day is has just gotten worse. Today i slept 12 hours and woke up still tired. I still have a swollen painful lymph node and pain in my tooth and now swelling under my tongue on the side of the root canal with a sore on it. Im also on clindamycin. Its tooth number 32. I want to do everything i can to save my tooth. Does it seem savable? I have read alot saying no and yes. If i were to have it pulled, with it being my last tooth how would it be replaced? Im very stressed about this.. i really want to save my tooth and not be in pain..

[Harrerej12]

I have a similar problem, I was in an accident when i was 16/17 and was kicked in the mouth, the front three teeth 7,8,9 were all treated with root canals, now 23 i have a large lump on the roof of my mouth, went to the dentist yesterday, and took x-rays, had a large black hole and dentist recommended i go to a specialist an endodontic i believe to get retreated root canals on 8,9 i believe.. after reading a few of these posts, i am very nervous about just retreating them due to the high cost. I also am nervous because after going to the dentist yesterday a large lump has grown on my gum line which also hurts. I don't want to get these teeth removed due to the fact that they are in the front of my mouth. Is there anything I can do or will the teeth have to be removed? I have an appointment later today at the specialist dentist, and they are going to start the re-treatment but i do not want to waste my money if this will not soothe the pain or cure the infection.

Thank you and please help

[Bryanna]

Hi Harrerej,

You are correct in that to re treat these teeth with root canal therapy or apicoectomies (surgical root canals) you are throwing your money away. First of all as you may have read here many times..... there is no way to "cure" an infected tooth because there is no access to the tiny canals that contain infected nerve tissue. So root canaled teeth remain infected for hte life of the tooth. Secondly, these teeth were severely traumatized in the accident to the point where the nerves were damaged and died off. This is an irreversible condition. Thirdly, there is a strong likelihood that these teeth are fractured which does not always show up on x-rays. Again, there is no procedure that can make a fractured tooth healthy again.

The large lump on both your palate and gum area above these teeth indicates a large infection in the jawbone. These areas of infection will not go away so long as the teeth are present because the teeth will be chronically infected.

Regarding the idea of losing these teeth.....the most important issue you need to understand is that the longer you hold onto them the more the infection will spread into your sinus and quite possibly beyond. Most people don't realize that their brain is only about 4 inches from their upper teeth and it is not protected from infections in the teeth. Also the replacement of those teeth becomes much more complicated as those areas of infection in the bone continue to deteriorate the fragile bone leaving nothing in it's place.

The inevitable is that you are going to lose all of those teeth and possibly more if the infection spreads to the adjacent bone. It does not make any sense to remove one or two of them because they are all infected and carry the same risks. It is up to you to decide if you want to continue risking your jawbone and your health by hanging onto them.

Replacement options at this point will depend on how much healthy bone is left after those teeth are removed. But again, the longer you put the inevitable off, the more complicated your case becomes.

I'm sorry to deliver this bad news to you but your case is not unusual. What drives the dentists to re treating these teeth has nothing to do with curing the problem.... it is the patient saying.... but I don't want to lose my teeth. He knows you will eventually lose them and the bone in the process but if you are willing to pay to put a useless bandaid on this situation... he's not going to turn that down.

I suggest you google this to learn the health risks with root canaled teeth...
dr mercola how a root canal can affect your health

Please keep us posted on how you're doing.
Bryanna

Originally Posted by Harrerej12

I have a similar problem, I was in an accident when i was 16/17 and was kicked in the mouth, the front three teeth 7,8,9 were all treated with root canals, now 23 i have a large lump on the roof of my mouth, went to the dentist yesterday, and took x-rays, had a large black hole and dentist recommended i go to a specialist an endodontic i believe to get retreated root canals on 8,9 i believe.. after reading a few of these posts, i am very nervous about just retreating them due to the high cost. I also am nervous because after going to the dentist yesterday a large lump has grown on my gum line which also hurts. I don't want to get these teeth removed due to the fact that they are in the front of my mouth. Is there anything I can do or will the teeth have to be removed? I have an appointment later today at the specialist dentist, and they are going to start the re-treatment but i do not want to waste my money if this will not soothe the pain or cure the infection.

Thank you and please help

[Harrerej12]

Thank you very much for the honesty and all the help. If I do get the teeth extracted which is looking more likely. how is the infection then treated? Or will the infection be there forever, further risking my health?

I know you are very busy and I know that i appreciate you getting back to me so fast so i want to thank you, you are truly helpful =)

[Bryanna]

Harrerej,

When the tooth is removed, the surgeon will debride the bone removing the periodontal ligaments, necrotic bone and infection. In your case, this procedure may be quite extensive so you may want to consider having IV sedation for the surgery. He will still use local anesthetic so you will be very numb for several hours afterwards.

Prior the surgery, see your general dentist to discuss having a temporary flipper (this is a removable appliance with teeth on it) made to be worn during the surgical healing phase which will take a few months or so. This way you will not be without teeth when you go out in public.

How was that for a fast reply? )
Yes, please put your ducks in a row asap.
Keep us posted...
Bryanna

Originally Posted by Harrerej12

Thank you very much for the honesty and all the help. If I do get the teeth extracted which is looking more likely. how is the infection then treated? Or will the infection be there forever, further risking my health?

I know you are very busy and I know that i appreciate you getting back to me so fast so i want to thank you, you are truly helpful =)

[Harrerej12]

Today I went to an endodontic dentist, and retreated the root canals, they put medicine in the teeth and i have to go back in a month, I only did this because the cost was not as great as i thought, still not cheap.. But I will keep these teeth monitored. I brought up the teeth being extracted instead but he said that this was the best option for me. I may have thought more rational if i wasnt in so much pain, and my mother agreed with starting to heal this and keep the teeth monitored very closely. After the infection is "healed" i will talk to the oral surgeon about implants but due to my pain factor i really needed something done ASAP. So that is why i did the root canal re-treament.
I will keep you updated on if this helped or not.

Thank you again

[Harrerej12]

Another Question.. Who do you contact about such a medical procedure? An Oral Surgeon or is there a specialist that you would consult before this type of major procedure that you recommended above?

[Bryanna]

Harrerej,

If you have been reading any of the posts here about root canals you will see repetitively how re treating these teeth never works because there is no access to the tiny canals. The "medicine" that the dentist put in the tooth may be formaldehyde... which is extremely toxic and not removable from the lining of the tooth. The source of the infection are these teeth. This area will not heal so long as these teeth are present. I'm sorry the dentist convinced you to do this without informing you of the risks of keeping these teeth. He should at least have offered you that much prior to taking the money to do this.

Please ask your mom to google.....
dr mercola how a root canal can affect your health.

Bryanna

Originally Posted by Harrerej12

Today I went to an endodontic dentist, and retreated the root canals, they put medicine in the teeth and i have to go back in a month, I only did this because the cost was not as great as i thought, still not cheap.. But I will keep these teeth monitored. I brought up the teeth being extracted instead but he said that this was the best option for me. I may have thought more rational if i wasnt in so much pain, and my mother agreed with starting to heal this and keep the teeth monitored very closely. After the infection is "healed" i will talk to the oral surgeon about implants but due to my pain factor i really needed something done ASAP. So that is why i did the root canal re-treament.
I will keep you updated on if this helped or not.

Thank you again

[Bryanna]

Harrerej,

<< Another Question.. Who do you contact about such a medical procedure? An Oral Surgeon or is there a specialist that you would consult before this type of major procedure that you recommended above?>>

The dentist that you would consult about removal of these teeth and implants would be an oral surgeon. You would also consult with a general dentist or prosthodontist prior to the surgery to discuss temporary replacement such as a flipper as I explained in an earlier post and permanent replacement.

You should be aware that you may not be a good candidate for dental implants because of the extensive infection which continues to deteriorate the bone. As I said earlier, the complication here is the longer you keep these teeth, the less likely implants would be successful.

I hope your pain eases a bit... but please don't mistake the lack of symptoms for "healing".

Bryanna