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

Thanks heaps Bryanna

Yes it was more of a probing instrument but it was very tender/sensitive when he did. I have made a booking with a oral surgeon. It's April 30 pity I couldn't get in sooner but it's a start

Hi Bryanna

I was able to get in to the oral surgeon yesterday. I took the x ray that the dentist took with me. He seemed to think that everything looked fine with the x ray & my gum etc. He sent me off to get some blood tests & I go back & see him tomorrow. I felt like a hypochondriac but I know something isn't right. I asked on his thoughts re root canals & he said they are fine if done properly. I said what about having a infected tooth in your mouth & he said the infection would be dead. I don't know what to do now especially since I have that tooth that apparently needs one also. I have had nothing but trouble since having the last one done. Could stress be something that mimics all these symptoms ?

Chalky,

I will re post the statement that you state was said by the oral surgeon and respond in bold type.

<<I asked on his thoughts re root canals & he said they are fine if done properly. I said what about having a infected tooth in your mouth & he said the infection would be dead.>>

HA! HA! IF THIS WEREN'T SO DISTURBING, I WOULD THINK IT WAS ALMOST FUNNY!
EVERY PERSON THAT HAS GRADUATED FROM DENTAL SCHOOL HAS BEEN TAUGHT THAT ROOT CANALED TEETH ARE BIOLOGICALLY COMPROMISED AND SHOULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED HEALTHY. THEY WERE NOT TAUGHT HOW TO INFORM THEIR PATIENTS ABOUT ANY OF THAT. IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS, MEANING WHEN THE PATIENT WANTS TO KEEP THEIR UNHEALTHY TOOTH, MANY DENTISTS ARE GOING TO CASH IN ON THAT DEAL AND TELL PATIENTS THAT THESE TEETH ARE "FINE". IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN THE MEANING OF "FINE" AS IN HEALTHY WHICH DOES NOT PERTAIN TO RC TEETH OR "FINE" AS IN "STANDARD" WHICH DOES PERTAIN TO RC TEETH.

ROOT CANALED "TEETH" ARE IN FACT NON VITAL BECAUSE DURING THE PROCEDURE THE BLOOD VESSEL IS CUT SO THERE IS NO MORE NUTRITION OR VITALITY BEING FED TO THAT TOOTH. THE BACTERIA FROM THE INFECTION THAT RESIDES INSIDE OF THE HUNDREDS OF TINY CANALS THAT EVENTUALLY PROLIFERATES BEYOND THE TOOTH IS IN FACT NOT DEAD, IT IS VERY MUCH ALIVE AND THRIVING.

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION.... IF THE INFECTION IN THE RC TOOTH WERE DEAD, THEN HOW DID THE INFECTION SPREAD BEYOND THE TOOTH LIKE IT HAS IN EVERY ONE OF YOUR ROOT CANALED TEETH?

Whatever you decide to do is completely your choice. If you are so inclined to learn more about rc teeth, then I would suggest that you look at the sites I have posted on this forum to become better informed.

I hope you are able to come to a comfortable decision that you feel is best for you.

Bryanna

That's why I asked him & due to being a independent (not the original dentist) he might have been more up front. Where do I go from here ? Not only from yourself but from other things I have read on the net suggest they are bad news, Do I just get someone to remove the root canal & the one next to it ?