Hi, I'm new and I came upon this site while looking up info concerning my sinus issues. I'm unsure if this is the place to ask this but here goes anyways:
I have had a sinus infection (or what was diagnosed as a sinus infection by my doctor) for about 3-4 months now. I was give two rounds of antiobiotics and I'm still having pain. I didn't think to tell the doctor that I've had an ongoing problem with one of my upper right back teeth. For about a year or more I've had simply pain with it from time to time. Sometime last summer, it began to swell and stayed swollen for over a week. The swelling finally went down and it was sometime after that that my sinus infection/constant headache and pressure has occured (and while the headache hurts in different places from one day to another, it most often hurts on the upper right side of my forehead). My tooth still hurts, not all the time though, and when there is pain, it swells shortly thereafter and when the pain goes away, so does the swelling, or swelling goes then pain. This happens at least once a day.
I'm really hoping that I just need to have the infected tooth taken out and that will solve the problem. Anyways, what do you think?

Hi Bryanna
I am new to the forum but hope you might be able to give me some advice or even words of wisdom! I had a tooth out in early September (on the top last one at back). The extraction was long and difficult and the dentist said I had very long roots. I know this to be true as previous dentists and x rays had confirmed I had long curly roots. After the tooth finally came out, the dentist told me I had a communication into my sinus and needed to see an oral surgeon to assess if a surgical closure was necessary. I saw the surgeon a few days later and he took an xray and told me he thought it should heal up by itself but would monitor me for a while to make sure. He also put me on a course of Augmentin to prevent infection. Despite the antibiotic I developed a really bad infection which needed further stronger antibiotics and the whole thing left me wiped out. The next visit a week or so later seemed to confirm the perforation was closing however a few days later I started to feel like I had another sinus infection and the pain and pressure in that side of my face was unreal. A trip to the G.P. ensued and I left with lots of pain killers and a 10 day course of augmentin and flagyl together which totally left me wrecked. At the end of the course I still felt shaky but put it down to the effects of the antibiotics. I mentioned it to the oral surgeon on my scheduled visit and he decided to send me for a CT scan. The scan revealed that there was complete opacification of the right maxiallary antrum and evidence of oro antral fistula. The biggy though-residual tooth root lying in the cavity of the right antrum. As the dentist had not told the oral surgeon that the extraction was incomplete, this option had not even been considered. While I am glad a cause for my ongoing infections and pain has been found, I am dreading the procedure to remove the root. I am scheduled to have it done under G.A. this week. The oral surgeon plans to open the gum at original site, go in and clear out sinus cavity, remove the tooth root and repair the defect. It has to be done but ... Does this sound like the correct course of action? What is my recovery likely to be like? Many thanks for any advice.

I am so sorry you have gone through all that with the tooth extraction. I have heard so many things these days about dentists not being totally reliable. I would have a beef with the dentist who took it out to begin with, and leaving a root behind. Bryanna will talk to you I am sure. She has such good advise to people in trouble. I just wanted to tell you that I will be thinking of you, and I hope you get a good resolution with whatever proceedure is given to you. You are right to question everything at this point. My very best wishes for a good outcome and speedy recovery. I received good information, on what questions to ask my dentist to prevent work being done without my full knowledge. ginnie

Thanks for taking the time to reply ginnie. It shouldn't have gone on this long for sure but I am happy it is at last going to be sorted. Can't help wondering if this op will cause more problems though. Thanks again

Hi E.....

Is the upper molar root canaled? If not, what makes you think the tooth is infected? Have you seen your dentist and had an xray of that tooth?

If the tooth is infected it could be that it is draining either through a fistula (pimple like bump on the gum or palate near the tooth) or through an opening between the gum and the root called a periodontal pocket. This would cause an on/off swelling and pressure symptom that you describe.

A long standing tooth infection as in the case of a root canaled molar or a molar that is abscessed can cause or contribute to a moderate to severe sinus infection that can be difficult to eradicate completely. Oral antibioitcs cannot take care of this type of sinus infection so long as the infected tooth is present. The first step would be to remove the source of the infection which would be the infected tooth. The sinus would be cleaned out during the extraction and possibly mended closed (depends on the size and location of the sinus involvement). Either oral or IV antibiotics are prescribed sometimes for long term, depends on the individual case.

Hope this info helps a bit...
Bryanna

in answer to your reply, you seem to know what you are talking about.

i have had a terrible experience after a failed root canal which only lasted for 4 days i had the tooth exracted since then i have ncver expericed anything in my life (21 courses of antibiotics) pain suffering, second opions that they say i have now trinual nuropathy, and having further mri, the meds i have are not heping, my life has changed, i have many wymtoms, and never had real answers to what has happened to me. wouldddddddddddd be soooo greatful of any answers as my story is long and been mad complicated, im suffering in vein and feel no hope bless yo all xx

Hi pixiedust.

First let me............SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMM............OMG!

I am so sorry you are going through this BS. The dentist that pulled your tooth is .........st*pid. Sorry, but he should NOT have attempted this difficult extraction in the first place... to make it worse, he should have stopped midway and sent you to the oral surgeon. He should have known that he broke off a piece of the root but he either didn't look at what he had removed to check if all the pieces were out OR he got scared when he saw the sinus perf and didn't look any further.

It is understandable that the oral surgeon didn't initially pick up on the root tip because by then it was probably at an angle/location that was not obvious on the 2 dimensional xray. Thus the CT scan picked it up right away as well as the nasal fistula.

Yes, the surgery to rermove the root is necessary because that root tip can cause havoc up there which would be very difficult to treat. The post op recuperation varies from one person to another mainly because of the various degrees of surgery involved, it's really a case by case situation. Generally the patient is fairly sore/uncomfortable for the first few days, thus the pain meds. It is advisable if at all possible you plan on taking it very easy for at least the first few days... plan ahead a soft diet menu with plenty of protein and fiber...take a probiotic (like Culturelle) starting now and stay on that for at least 3 months or indefinitely is actually best... drink plenty of water throughout the day (no straw)... no smoking.... no alcohol... no mouthwash....make sure to follow the surgeons post op instructions to the T to avoid complications.

If this were me.... I would call the original dentist and inform him of what you are having done...in my opinion, he is completely responsible and therefore should pay the surgery bill. Seriously.... I would suggest this to everyone... including my own patients!

Please keep us posted on how you're doing! Will keep you in our thoughts and hope everything goes well and easy.
Bryanna

Hi Bryanna, Thanks so much for getting back so quickly. I know I should be mad with dentist but to be honest I've been too miserable to bother! The odd few days that I have felt ok I have just been glad to get on with it. Anyway here's to getting it sorted and hoping there are no further complications. Thanks again

For everyone who has or might have a sinus infection related to a tooth (and that includes ME!), it's really important to be doing all you can for your immune system. I take 8,000-10,000 units of Vitamin D daily plus I have added 1000 mg of vitamin C. I also take astaxanthin, a very powerful antioxidant.

As Bryanna has pointed out to all of us, there is probably infection in there that doesn't show up yet on x-ray, and ultimately it will get worse. So you need to help your immune system fight this battle until you get the infected tooth removed (my case), or if you've already done that and you're still having infection, then adding antioxidants and Vitamin D will help you get well. BUT all the supplements in the world won't hold off the infection forever.

Stacy

Hi, just to let you know I had the procedure yesterday and so far so good. I was expecting to feel much more pain today but it really is minimal. It is great also to have no pain in my cheek. Oral surgeon said that he removed the root and sent it for pathology just to be sure. I have some bloody mucous from sinus this afternoon coming from throat but I'm sure that's to be expected and nose feels a bit stuffy. I am going to use nasal spray to help with this.
Thanks again for your replies.