infection under root canal
 

Hi, I am hoping to get some help and advice as I am feeling very worried at the moment. I am a lady of sixty years old and I have been told my my dentist that I have an infection in my root canal, the middle upper molar.
The first upper molar which should be next to it has already been removed 7 years ago due to a previous infected root canal. Once antibiotics had finally brought this infection under control ,the molar next to it (the one that is now infected) was root canalled to "prevent the infection spreading to the healthy tooth" and to "save the tooth."
Well last week my dentist xrayed it and told me it is infected and gave me antibiotics to "settle it down".After reading the knowledgeable clear information that Bryanna has posted I now know that an infected root canal will not settle down with antibiotics alone.I really want this tooth to be removed.
I wonder if Bryanna could give me some idea of the best treatment for my infected tooth eg should I ask my dentist for a referral to an oral surgeon so that any infection can be removed thoroughly? To be fair to my dentist he is a good dentist but I feel that if an infection is visible on an x ray it is probably in the jawbone, and therefore as Bryanna has said to others , a dental surgeon is best.Also I had strange symptoms of systemic illness, like
dizziness,headaches,facial and sinus pain on the infected side,chest pain,sore throats and a feeling of just being out of sorts for about two months before my tooth
became painful.
Thankyou for reading my post, hope it is not too confusing.
Kind regards,Paula K

Hi Paula,

Welcome! So sorry to hear that you are having this tooth problem. I am in the dental field and can offer you help here.

Good to hear that you have been reading and learning about root canaled teeth. I know that the information is not very comforting but it is truthful and does allow you to become better informed so that when you see your dentist you will be able to communicate more effectively by having this knowledge :)

Okay so your tooth..... first let me say that it is common for someone to have infection spread from one tooth to another even when only one of them has been root canaled. You are also correct in that the infection that was seen on your xray is in the jaw bone. Again this is commonly seen as the bacteria spreads from the tooth into the bone. So dentists and oral surgeons see this exact situation all of the time.

The antibiotics may help temporarily subside the symptoms and reduce the inflammation. But they will not cure the infection. It is best to have this tooth removed while you are on the antibiotics for several reasons. Here a few of them....

One: the inflammation is less
Two: the dental anesthetic will be more effective making the numbing more profound
Three: you may not need to take another round of antibiotics post operatively

Yes, you should ask for a referral to an oral surgeon and here's why. There is always a chance that the bone may be more infected than what appears on the x-ray and the OS will be very experienced in dealing with that.

When you see the oral surgeon make him aware of your physical discomforts over the last few months especially the sinus pain. This way when he removes the tooth he will be looking for any physical evidence of sinus involvement.

I hope this has answered your questions. Please feel free to post here with more. I try to check in at least once a day.

I know you are feeling worried, but I know you will be okay. I suggest that you schedule with the OS as soon as you can and get this taken care of.

Keep us posted ;)
Bryanna