Eye infection from a possible root canal infection?
 

Hi!

I've been getting repeated inflamation of my right eye that artificial tears / antibacterial / antiviral eye drops aren't fixing. The inflammation goes away with steroid eye drops and returns as soon as I stop them. I can't stay on the steroid long term because possible side effects include glaucoma.

I've had root canals on tooth number 30 and 31 (twice). There is often bleeding from my gums if I floss those teeth. I was feeling mild discomfort, pressure in my jaw in that general area. I've also never had bad breath but was waking up to gross breath.

When I went for my annual cleaning, I told my dentist about this and he did an x-ray. He says there is a "pocket" in tooth #31, it might be cracked under the cap/crown and there is a "shadow" in the root for that tooth. Also, tooth #30's roots don't look perfectly clear either.

It seems extremely likely that the root canals are infected. I think I'll just ask to get these teeth pulled and learn to chew on the left side. :-)

What I wanted to know was, could my recurrent eye problems be related to an infected root canal? It seems a bit coincidental.

Hi aali,

Generally the upper teeth would be associated with the eyes. But if you have a chronic infection in any tooth that has spread to the jaw bone, this indicates that the bacteria is in your blood stream. So anything else going on with your body can be compromised as your immune system is busy dealing with the oral infection.

From your description it sounds like both of these teeth have been infected for quite some time and the infection has spread to the bone. The pocketing and bleeding indicate bacteria is overwhelming the area. The radiographic findings conclude the infection.

It would not be unusual for your eye problem to improve after the infected teeth are removed because once the immune system no longer has to deal with that infection it can concentrate on the eye problem.

I think you are leaning in the ideal direction with removing these teeth and probably the sooner the better!

Please check back and let us know how you're doing.
Bryanna