bryanna have a couple of questions...
 

I had a root canal done when I was 14 on a tooth due to the roots being close to my sinus cavity he didn't want to remove it after root canal all was good until I was like 28 then the filling came out then the tooth decayed started breaking off it got sort of sore at times nothing bad then one day I got the worst toothache ever suffered for two days I couldn't sleep a wink then I walked into the bathroom looked in the mirror and I felt a release of pressure only it didn't release in my mouth it went up all the pain went away went to the dentist the next day he said I had an infection in that tooth and bone above it he put me on antibiotic for 5-days had me come back made me sign consent form saying he could perforate my sinus cavity and removed the tooth everything seemed to be good in the healing process ..well about six months later I started to get this random pain about every other day or so so I went back to him he said the hole closed up good... but here I am 4-years later still dealing with the pain every other day it will even wake me up in the middle of the night it feels like the left side of my face from the from the top of my eye to the top of my gum line my gums and teeth don't hurt pain is mostly when I'm relaxing or sleeping went to an ent he's sch. me a ct scan can anyone shine some light on this could my sinus be perforated and communicating with my jaw bone???

Hi facepain2009,

It is important that the ct scan include the oral cavity as well as your sinuses. So make sure your ENT dr is aware of the long history of infection on this tooth.

Here is what I think happened.... the tooth was root canaled at 14 yrs old probably due to extensive decay. The dentists excuse of not removing it because of the close proximity to your sinuses.... was a bunch of BS because sooner or later, this tooth was going to need to be extracted and of course it would have been better to extract it before it infected the sinuses. From that point forward, the tooth was infected because root canal therapy does not cure the infection residing inside of the microscopic canals..... thus the tooth remains infected.

The tooth was not showing symptoms of a problem until the filling came and and so forth. However, most dental infections do not show symptoms until the problem has progressed. Radio-graphs are often the first notion to the patient that they have an infection. So it's been infected for at least 14 years....

The release of pressure that you felt was most likely the pressure from the infection perforating the sinus.... that's not good. The surgeon probably cleaned up what he could see in the sinus when he removed the tooth .... but the infection may have spread further than he could see. Given the history of this tooth, he probably should have sent you for a dental cat scan prior to the extraction to see the extent of the infection.

A tooth infection can spread into the jaw bone quite easily and this is a huge risk associated with all upper root canaled teeth. Anytime the infection has gone into the sinus, it will also be found in the jawbone.

I hope the ct scan comes up with a conclusive diagnosis and you are able to get the proper treatment. Please keep us posted on what's going on.. !

Bryanna

Thanks so much I wish you were my dentist when this happened it was a regular dentist that pulled it he never put anything up through the extraction hole and into my sinus he didn't think my sinus was perforated as i type i can feel sort of a throbbing above my old extraction site is that a sign of a perforated sinus when i went back to the dentist he he looked at my extraction site and said it closed up great can my gum close up normally and sinus still be perforated or bone above my teeth be infected my ent suspects that my sinus is communicating with my bone ....Thanks so much for your time

Hi facepain,

The throbbing pain above the area of the extraction can be caused by any number of things. It does indicate inflammation is present. How far up the problem is, will hopefully be seen on the scan.

The gum closing over the surgical site does not always indicate complete sinus closure. It's like having a splinter in your finger and the gum closes over it. The only way to see under the closed skin is to take an xray or scan.

Sometimes the infection in the sinus travels upward and this causes a void in the bone. This is most likely what your ENT dr is looking for.

Keep us posted...
Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna
 

I will keep you posted as bad as it hurts I don't think its going to be to difficult to detect with a scan at least i hope not Thank you for taking your time to answer my questions ....

You are welcome, anytime!
Please keep us in the loop..
Bryanna