Rosegirl,

It's important for you to know that root canaled teeth, irrelevant of whether you put a crown on them or not, are chronically infected teeth. Once a tooth becomes infected, a root canal procedure is done to give the opportunity of "retaining" the unhealthy tooth for an undetermined amount of time. The root canal procedure cannot and does not cure the infection brewing inside of the tooth. The infection is usually not clinically or radio graphically visible until the bacteria spreads from the inside of the canals through the tooth and into the jaw bone. So it sounds like, based on what your dentist commented on there being a little infection, that the bacteria was on its way into your jaw bone. So it was wise to have that tooth removed.

My intention is not to scare you but to inform you of the truth about infected teeth. A tooth infection can cause serious life altering health problems and yes, even death. More times than not, when someone dies from an infection of "unknown origin" it is usually from an infection related to the mouth. This is because the bacteria that lives in our teeth, gums and jaw bone travels through the same blood vessels that filter through the rest of our body. So whatever bacteria is living in our mouths is living in our blood stream. It is important for people to know that so we know there are health risks of keeping infected tooth.

Take good care of yourself. Hopefully you feel better in a few days.
Bryanna