Hi

Roughly 10 months ago after a routine check up I had my upper left wisdom tooth removed as it was in sideways & apparently causing my sinus some grief, it was quite a process. Once that was removed the dentist said the tooth next to it was badly decayed & was most likely the cause of the sinus issue. A root canal procedure was performed (I felt half of one of the procedures until more anaesthetic given).
In the few months after that I felt funny just above the area & under my eye, being winter & indoors would struggle with the left eye weeping etc & only upon fresh air would feel better.
Into spring & I was getting allergies which I had never got before & tired & miserable, post nasal drip, headaches etc. Then around xmas I got tonsillitis & once that cleared up bronchitis, & recently due to the headaches & pnd went back to the dr & he thought I had sinusitis so put me on more antibiotics for 8 weeks.

Recently I have had the pnd & every now & then sore throat & diarrhea. Then one day last week my upper left gum was swollen & one of the teeth there felt like it had it's own heart beat, it occurred to me re the wisdom tooth & root canal & it made sense that something there could be the cause to all my problems as it's the same area as a lot of the issues.

I went back to the same dentist & after he inspected & tapped on the upper teeth, the only one which was tender was the one which had the root canal done, he did one of the x rays that goes around your head.

He said that he was confused as the root canal looked fine but on the tooth next to it was a sinus infection above it & that he needed to consult with his senior colleague in what to do. He booked me in for next week & said most likely would need to do a root canal on the tooth next to the one which had the rc done.

I am worried as since I had the last rc done I have been not well & on antibiotics for sinus/upper respiratory problems, I have since read on the net that having the tooth extracted is the way to go as rc's can cause these sort of problems.

Sorry about the long post & any suggestions would be appreciated

Regards

Hi Chalky,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.

The sequence and description of your physical ailments are indicative of a chronic infection that is coming from a source that oral antibiotics and root canal therapy are not able to eradicate. This type of infection is commonly associated with an infected tooth in which the infection has spread beyond the tooth. Taking medication may temporarily subside the symptoms but they never really go away because the source of the infection keeps the infectious bacteria alive. The source of the bacteria is the tooth.

Root canal procedures are done in an attempt to allow a person to retain an unhealthy tooth for an uncertain amount of time. The procedure is not capable of curing the infection because there is no access to remove infected nerve tissue from the hundreds of microscopic canals. The only area of the tooth that is worked on is the interior of the large visible canals and even those cannot be scraped clean of all nerve tissue. What this means is that the rc tooth remains infected and because the bacteria spreads beyond the tooth, other areas like the bone and sinus become infected also. Sometimes there are little to no symptoms with the initial spread of bacteria while other times there can be one or more ongoing symptoms which may feel like it is in the tooth or elsewhere.

The panoramic xray that was taken shows the upper and lower jaws in their entirety. It is diagnostic for many reasons however it does not take the place of the single dental xrays which show a much closer look at the exact area. Also, in spite of the fact that there is without contention an intricate connection between the health of our teeth and our sinus, some dentists do not make that connection and they will just keep recommending root canal after root canal from one tooth to the next. Taking that approach does not cure the problem, it adds more burden to it.

The only chance of eradicating the infection is to have the source of the infection removed which is the root canaled tooth. In your case because your infection is long standing.... meaning it has been present for a long time as that tooth was decaying ... there is a chance that the adjacent tooth is infected as well. To root canal the adjacent tooth does not favorably alter the status of the current root canaled tooth or the sinus infection because the procedure cannot cure the infection it can just add to the existing problem.

You may also be having intestinal upset from the antibiotics which have depleted your intestines of healthy bacteria. When this occurs, your immune system becomes weak and unable to deal with the chronic infection associated with your teeth and sinuses. Do you supplement with good bacteria called a probiotic? Do you know what that is or want information about that?

At this stage, you should see an oral surgeon (not a general dentist) for evaluation and recommendation of your upper teeth and sinus on that side. You may also have to consult with an ear, nose and throat physician.

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to ask for clarification or more questions.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna

Wow it's great to hear somebody who knows what they are talking about Yes I take a probiotic daily. I forgot to mention I am also a type 1 diabetic. Which I have fairly well under control but doesn't help when your immune system is being challenged.

Hi Chalky,

Thank you for the kind words

Good that you take a probiotic everyday! It is helpful and beneficial if you occasionally change the probiotic that you are taking to one that offers a different variety of bacteria and/or is more potent than the one you have been taking. If you frequently have diarrhea or are prone to having that occur when you take an antibiotic, then you may need to change the probiotic. Also, anytime you have taken more than one course or taken different antibiotics in a short period of time, your probiotic needs will be different. A bacteria that helps a probiotic to be more effective in people who are lacking in beneficial bacteria due to illness, intestinal disorders or medication is called Saccharomyces Boulardii. Here is some info on that in case you are not familiar with it. FYI.. this supplement can be expensive but it is important to use one of good quality.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296087/

As I'm sure you already know, your diabetes is a significant factor in your oral health as you know infections can be quite troublesome for you. The systemic health risks correlated with retaining an infected tooth along with the chronic sinus infection are increased in someone with diabetes.

Many dentists will repetitively prescribe antibiotics for infected non vital teeth because they do not consider root canaled teeth to be a health burden until the bacteria from the tooth has proliferated way beyond the tooth. Even when that occurs, dentists may continue to prescribe meds and re-treatments to no avail. For most people, especially someone with an auto immune disease, the idea of taking numerous prescriptions and/or undergoing re treatment procedures during this waiting period for the infection to become more severe could be irreversibly detrimental. So I urge you to consider your dental and sinus situation very seriously and learn as much as you can about the health risks of retaining unhealthy teeth.

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna

Once again I'm not feeling to flash, have been on antibiotics since Tues, mild fever & bit of sore throat. I called & booked into a oral surgeon but that's not until April 30. My dentist called me & the owner who is not a oral surgeon but is highly qualified & does oral surgery ,wants me to come in next week,(he is away until then) He wants to look at me to clarify the situation & go from there, he said he s looked at my x ray.

Should I tell him I want the root canal tooth removed or just wait to see what he says & ask if he thinks it's best for the oral surgeon ?

Also could you shed some light on why the dentist thought my root canal looked good yet it hurt when he tapped it & put a cleaning tool in it ?

Regards Mark

Hi Chalky,

I would suggest that you only see an oral surgeon for the evaluation of the sinus and extraction of that molar. Not a general dentist and not someone affiliated with the dentist who removed that wisdom tooth. You want an objective opinion and treatment, not one that may be biased in any way.


Regarding your question about the dentist thinking the rc tooth looked "good" in spite of the tenderness when he tapped on it. There is a great deal of emphasis put on dentists during their education to go to great measures to "retain" teeth by doing root canals. The procedures to do that are very lucrative for the dentist and they are the only available option for the patient to temporarily keep their sick tooth. At the same time, dentists are also taught that root canal therapy cannot and does not make an infected tooth healthy again. It is very unfortunate that dental patients are not openly informed by the dentist about that fact prior to giving consent to having the root canal done. Hopefully as more and more people become self educated and better informed about root canals, they will start to question the dentist about the procedure and in time the information will be openly offered without the patient having to ask.

So the basic answer to your question.... a dentist suggests the root canal procedure to retain the tooth and then expects that tooth to have some problems. The dentist is accustomed to seeing the problems creep up in intensity on dental radio-graphs as time goes on and frequently dismisses them until they have become severe enough for him to suggest removal of the tooth. Some dentists will go a bit farther and let the patient determine the fate of their tooth so long as the radio graphic pathology has not become too widespread. One thing to note here.... dental radio-graphs are only a 2 dimensional image therefore depending the angle the film was taken, there could be a more widespread problem that is not being picked up on that x-ray and all dentists are aware of that.

Another note is that the infected nerve tissue that resides inside of the hundreds of tiny canals inside of all root canaled teeth are not visible on regular dental x-rays until the bacteria has caused those canals to become badly decayed or the bacteria has proliferated through those canals into the bone. So until that proliferation happens, a dentist will look at the x-ray and tell the patient... it looks good!

Also the "tool" he used during his evaluation of this tooth did not clean anything as there is no access to the inside of the tooth unless he were to drill into it and remove the root canal filling material. He may have used a scaling or probing instrument to check the pocketing around the circumference of the tooth.

I hope I have been able to explain the information clearly enough for you to understand as it can be a challenge to do that on the internet.

Let me know if you have any further concerns about this.

Bryanna

Dear Bryanna,

I am grateful to have found this site. Your keen understanding and knowledge is so very helpful to many who are experiencing health problems due to root canals.

For the past 4 days, I have had a fever and what I thought to be cold symptoms i.e., post nasal drip, what sounds like whooping cough, but believe now (after reading here) could be a sinus cough instead, sore throat, tightness in chest. This is the second episode in two months since rc was started, plus there is a hard nodule at the base of #1 tooth that has been there for some time. At one point, long before the rc it became sore and more swollen; now it's not so bad.

I had my first root canal one month ago and although my dentist was somewhat doubtful of performing the root canal, he sent me to his "specialist" who definitely thought it was best to extract the #1 tooth. My dentist decided not take his advice and advised the rc specialist to do the rc anyway. A week or so later, I returned to my dentist for him to "build up the post" on this tooth. My dentist now wants me to see another specialist, an oral surgeon who will advise if I am a candidate for an implant. I am now in a wait mode to "see how this rc will take or not." The dentist has not cemented the permanent adhesive to the bridge, (yes…it's a 4-part bridge), until receiving a consult from his colleague.

My concern Is now three-fold. If extracting this infected tooth is best, what other option is there if I am not a good candidate for an implant -- My dentist mentioned that the roots in my gums are rather short and the bone may not be able to maintain an implant. Secondly, my heath could be deteriorating with having had two bouts of the above "illness" since having this series of dental work done.

I would really appreciate any advice you are able to share with me on this so I am able to make the best choice in this situation. As it stands, this fever is not going away on its own and the lack of sleep due to coughing with post nasal is leading to sleep deprivation. When I saw the tooth chart you provided and saw that the #1 tooth is associated with the heart, it all rang true as I feel tightness around this area. Someone here mentioned that the rc tooth took on a pulse of it's own...that is exactly my experience too. I thought if the tooth is death why is there a pulse??? Must be the infection underneath in the tiny canals as you describe so well.

You're a God-sent and thank you so much for helping those of us who really need it!

Kind regards

Hi Joeybeezz,

Thank you for the kind words and I am grateful that you have found us too!!

First let me ask, are you sure this is tooth #1? Because that is an upper wisdom tooth. Generally the root structure of a wisdom tooth is a bit different than the other teeth. The roots can be foreshortened... the interior of the large canals can be calcified ..... roots can be fused together... and upper wisdom teeth can be in very close proximity if not into the sinus. So generally root canals are not done on wisdom teeth because of the irregular root structure making it difficult if not impossible to gain access to even perform the procedure. I am guessing this is why the specialist even recommended to extract the tooth.

The nodule at the base of #1 is not a good sign. That needs to be diagnosed by the oral surgeon. It would also be wise to ask the oral surgeon if your sinus is involved with this wisdom tooth and/or with the infection. Ask him if the sinus is sitting low and if it would need to be lifted in order to do an implant.

FYI..... If you are contemplating dental implants in that area, please request from the oral surgeon a dental CT scan prior to any implant surgery to determine the health, height, width and depth of the bone and to determine the health and location of the sinus.

I assume that you are missing 2 teeth. Tooth #1 and tooth #4 are the anchor teeth to the 4 unit bridge? Is tooth #4 also root canaled?

Did your dentist explain the down side of root canaling a wisdom tooth? Did he offer you other options to replace the missing teeth before he performed the root canal? How long have those teeth been missing and had either of them been root canaled?

Your replacement options depend on:

1) What teeth are missing, not just in that quadrant but in the rest of your mouth.

2) What is the overall health of your gums and existing teeth?

Look forward to hearing back from you.
Bryanna




QUOTE=Joeybeezz;1140499]Dear Bryanna,

I am grateful to have found this site. Your keen understanding and knowledge is so very helpful to many who are experiencing health problems due to root canals.

For the past 4 days, I have had a fever and what I thought to be cold symptoms i.e., post nasal drip, what sounds like whooping cough, but believe now (after reading here) could be a sinus cough instead, sore throat, tightness in chest. This is the second episode in two months since rc was started, plus there is a hard nodule at the base of #1 tooth that has been there for some time. At one point, long before the rc it became sore and more swollen; now it's not so bad.

I had my first root canal one month ago and although my dentist was somewhat doubtful of performing the root canal, he sent me to his "specialist" who definitely thought it was best to extract the #1 tooth. My dentist decided not take his advice and advised the rc specialist to do the rc anyway. A week or so later, I returned to my dentist for him to "build up the post" on this tooth. My dentist now wants me to see another specialist, an oral surgeon who will advise if I am a candidate for an implant. I am now in a wait mode to "see how this rc will take or not." The dentist has not cemented the permanent adhesive to the bridge, (yes…it's a 4-part bridge), until receiving a consult from his colleague.

My concern Is now three-fold. If extracting this infected tooth is best, what other option is there if I am not a good candidate for an implant -- My dentist mentioned that the roots in my gums are rather short and the bone may not be able to maintain an implant. Secondly, my heath could be deteriorating with having had two bouts of the above "illness" since having this series of dental work done.

I would really appreciate any advice you are able to share with me on this so I am able to make the best choice in this situation. As it stands, this fever is not going away on its own and the lack of sleep due to coughing with post nasal is leading to sleep deprivation. When I saw the tooth chart you provided and saw that the #1 tooth is associated with the heart, it all rang true as I feel tightness around this area. Someone here mentioned that the rc tooth took on a pulse of it's own...that is exactly my experience too. I thought if the tooth is death why is there a pulse??? Must be the infection underneath in the tiny canals as you describe so well.

You're a God-sent and thank you so much for helping those of us who really need it!

Kind regards[/QUOTE]

Bryanna

Just a question, the tooth where I had the root canal done roughly 10 months ago, it's the one right up the top back left hand side, should it be tender to touch still ? When the dentist did the percussion test a few weeks ago it was the only one that hurt on that side & when he probed inside it with a instrument it was real sensitive, he didn't really seem to want to know much about that though, it's also tender to touch by finger. Just wondered if this meant something wasn't right in there or that's normal for a tooth that had a root canal done ?

Kind regards Mark

Chalky,

The root canaled tooth is infected and that is why it hurts to even slight pressure. The pain you felt when he probed down along the gum line next to that tooth can indicate that you have a perio/endo infection. That would mean that the bacteria from the tooth has traveled to the ligament and the sulcus (deep area below the gum line). The dentist should be informing you of this and not dismissing it. The problem is that as long as the tooth is present, the infection will be present. So I'm thinking he is reluctant to suggest that you have that tooth out especially since the rc was just done 10 mths ago.

Have you emailed the holistic dentist yet?

Bryanna