Hi everyone and thanks for all the good information. I too have an infection blow one of the roots on my 1-6 tooth (3rd from theback on the top right). I had a root canal in Nov 12 adn a ceramic cap put on in Late Jan 13. Sligiht pain started about a week ago on the outsie of the gum line. I had an X-ray at my dentists yesterday and he confirmed small pocket of infection.

We discusse various options. His preference was to referr me to an endodontist for a cleaning of my root canal. ANother option he proposed was to drill out the portion of my tooh that was infected hopoing that the tooth could still stay standing on the remaining part of the root.

After reading everything I can find on this site, I think those options are a waste of money and possibly dangerous to my health so I have contacted a dental surgeon who can see me on Tuesday 12 Mar. He wants me to take penicillin starting immediately as apparently it is difficult to freeze a tooth that is infected....although I don't see why that would be a concern as they intend to anesthsize me.

To complicate things I am scheduled to fly from Toronto to Punta Cana on Friday 15 March and I don not have cancellation insurance so I do want to go.

Questions:

1. If the dental surgeon does the surgery on Tues, will i be OK for my flight and holiday for a week by Friday?

2. Do I need to take the penicillin. Currently I am gargling and swishing 3 or 4 times per day with Nature's Sunshine Silver Sol whci seems to be keeping my infection down.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ken

Hi Ken,

I answered your other post about this...I will answer this one in caps to make reading this easier.

<<We discusse various options. His preference was to referr me to an endodontist for a cleaning of my root canal. ANother option he proposed was to drill out the portion of my tooh that was infected hopoing that the tooth could still stay standing on the remaining part of the root.>>

THE DRILLING OUT PART OF THE TOOT IS CALLED A ROOT AMPUTATION. IT IS BARBARIC AND WILL NOT ALTER THE INFECTION INSIDE OF THIS TOOTH.

<<1. If the dental surgeon does the surgery on Tues, will i be OK for my flight and holiday for a week by Friday?>>

FLYING WITHIN A WEEK OR TWO AFTER AN UPPER TOOTH EXTRACTION IS GENERALLY NOT ADVISABLE. BUT YOU CAN ASK THE SURGEON FOR HIS OPINION.

<<2. Do I need to take the penicillin. Currently I am gargling and swishing 3 or 4 times per day with Nature's Sunshine Silver Sol whci seems to be keeping my infection down.>>

YES, TAKE THE ANTIBIOTIC. IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO ANESTHETIZE AN AREA OF THE MOUTH THAT HAS AN ACUTE INFECTION. HE PENICILLIN WILL LOWER THE BACTERIA COUNT AND INFLAMMATION. THE COLLOIDAL SILVER IS OKAY BUT IT IS NOT PENETRATING THE JAWBONE WHERE THE INFECTION IS.

Hope this info helps!
Bryanna

Thanks for the reply Bryanna. Yeah, I ruled out the root amputation as it did sound barbaric to me!

WHile I was talking to my new regular dentist (he did the crown, but not the root canal. That was done by my previous dnentist!) trying to get him to refer me to the dental surgeon instead of the endodontist, he said that if i really wanted to remove the tooth that he could do it Monday morning adn that I should be Ok to fly on Friday.

Now I am somewhat concerned that you are advising me not to fly for up to two weeks? I cannot change my holiday plans, so would I be better off risking the infection getting worse and going on my trip 15-22 March the getting the tooth out after I return?

Re: taking the penicillin...I do not have an acute infection..I think it still a minor one. I have no real pain unless I touch my cheek opposite where the 1-6 is. Even then it is just mildly irritating. As I am a self admitted health nut I do not want to take an antibiotic unless aabsolutely necessary, so i have not even filled the prescription.

So what do you think now that you have this additional information? I have to decide before Monday morning.

Thanks again,

ken

Hi Ken,

Whether or not you have your general dentist do the extraction or not is up to you. As I have said, most general dentists do not remove the periodontal ligament nor do they thoroughly debride the bone. Yes, they have been taught to do this but if they can avoid doing it, they will. For some reason general dentists prefer to stay "out of the bone" and I have never understood this mentality nor have I ever been given a reason why they feel this way. This is always a topic amongst dental professionals because the oral surgeons feel it's a no brainer to be thorough in the procedure. Although I've seen some of them be careless too :/

If you want your GD to do the extraction then assert yourself in letting him know that you want the ligament removed and the bone scraped thoroughly. He may get annoyed because you touched his ego or he may laugh it off saying I always do that.... just re iterate that is what you want done.

With regard to the antibiotic... I would say start taking it as he suggested because evidently there is enough infection going on for him to be concerned about the anesthetic not taking full effect. You definitely want to be fully anesthetized for the removal of this tooth!!!

Also start on a probiotic supplement to help ward off digestive issues associated with the antibiotic. Just do not take them together. Leave a 2 hour window between the pro and the antibiotic.

Regarding the flying thing..... as I said, one to two weeks is ideal. But obviously putting off this trip may not be doable. The other issue is that it is not a good idea to fly with an infected tooth especially an upper tooth. The cabin pressure in the plane can cause an increase of pressure in the sinus which is most likely in close proximity to this tooth. That could set off a nasty toothache. The other thing to consider is that taking the antibiotic this whole week may just temporarily reduce the inflammation from the tooth enough to get you through your vacation week. You may also want to take another weeks worth with you on the trip just in case you get a flare up or take it starting 2 days before the flight back home to reduce the pressure buildup. You could also try using saline nose spray daily which helps reduce bacteria in the sinus. Perhaps if you speak to your dentist about these options he may have some additional insight for you.

Let me know what you've decided and how things go..
Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,

I had my tooth extracted by my general dentist this morning. He had no problem freezing me so I felt no pain, just the pulling sensation. The tooth came out well along with a small sack of pus. He cleaned the area and applied some of the Nature's Sunshine silver gel that I brough along with me. He says I do not need to take the anibiotic.

On examination my tooth actually looked pretty good. The three roots were still nice and white..the one that had the pus sack on the end of it appeared to have a small hole in it..I am assuming this was from the root canal ..maybe the dentist pushed too far too hard when performing the root canal. I was expecting the tooth to look blackened and more dead! Frankly, now I am wondering whether I should have tried to save this tooth as there is a rather large empty hole in my mouth now. Please reassure me that all root canals harbour bacteria and eventual lead to infections...did I do the right thing?

Now I am hoping that the tooth heals quickly so I won't have a problem leaving for my trip Friday morning.

Ken

Hi Bryanna,

I had my tooth extracted by my general dentist this morning. He had no problem freezing me so I felt no pain, just the pulling sensation. The tooth came out well along with a small sack of pus. He cleaned the area and applied some of the Nature's Sunshine silver gel that I brough along with me. He says I do not need to take the anibiotic.

On examination my tooth actually looked pretty good. The three roots were still nice and white..the one that had the pus sack on the end of it appeared to have a small hole in it..I am assuming this was from the root canal ..maybe the dentist pushed too far too hard when performing the root canal. I was expecting the tooth to look blackened and more dead! Frankly, now I am wondering whether I should have tried to save this tooth as there is a rather large empty hole in my mouth now. Please reassure me that all root canals harbour bacteria and eventual lead to infections...did I do the right thing?

Now I am hoping that the tooth heals quickly so I won't have a problem leaving for my trip Friday morning.

Ken

Ken,

Without a shadow of a doubt you made the right decision if you wanted to remove the infection.

The sack of pus was actually a cyst. The formation of a cyst is typical at the root of a root canaled tooth. Sometimes it's at one root, other times it's larger. Sometimes it can appear at the end of a root that has been perforated during the root canal procedure but most often it is the bacteria that has eaten a hole through the tooth into the bone. This cyst would have continued to grow irrelevant of how many times you root canaled this tooth because yes, all of the tiny canals harbor necrotic nerve tissue for the life of the tooth.

The roots were still white because the necrosis was just beginning. The older the root canaled tooth, the blacker the roots :/

Take good care of yourself. Starting tomorrow, gently rinse 3-4 times a day with warm salt water..... no conventional mouthwash (ever). The colloidal silver is okay but I would stick with only the salt water the first 3 days and then do some swishing with both.

Check in with us before you go on vacation )

Bryanna

I had my socked checked today. The dentist siad he would like to see more of a clot..it looks pretty dry but not hurting so far. He says i should be good to fly fri morning unless I get pain tomorrow.

Ken,

If you are irrigating the socket stop because that could disturb the clot. Just rinse gently with warm salt water.

Hopefully you will do okay and be on your way soon!!

Bryanna

[ QUOTE=squasher;965625]I had my socked checked today. The dentist siad he would like to see more of a clot..it looks pretty dry but not hurting so far. He says i should be good to fly fri morning unless I get pain tomorrow.[/QUOTE]