K-9 teeth & sinus infections
 

I have had ongoing sinus infections for years it seems. In July, my left-side K-9 tooth began to ache. After the pain had become too much to bare & my face began to swell, I went to a after hours clinic where I was given antibiotics for a sinus infection. Once I finished them, the pain began in my tooth again, then the swelling and so on... I finally went to a dentist in December who said I needed a root canal on that k-9 tooth. I went to another dentist for a second opinion, who also confirmed that I did indeed need the root canal. I had the root canal done just last Monday and now the other k-9 tooth is beginning to ache just as the previous k-9 had... Can this all be due to the ongoing sinus infections? Could there be some sort of way that the infections in the sinsuses is getting in to the teeth? I fear that I am about to go through the exact same thing with this other k-9 tooth and wonder if I should see an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist before I have to have another root canal!!!!:(:confused::(:confused:

Hi, I am not in the dental profession but want to ask you, did you go over your x-ray with both dentists? Did you bring a copy of your x-ray to the 2nd dentist and what did they see in order to decide that you needed the root canal? I also get pain in my teeth from sinuses, although they are not infected, they just act up in dry weather. My suggestion is that yes, you are on the right track and should consider getting a sinus cat scan. I just had a cat scan of my mouth (lots of dental and bone loss problems). You just sit down and the machine scans, takes 1 minute. There is so much dental work done when it really is from a non-dental cause like sinuses. See a good ENT and request a cat scan or x-ray of your sinuses before getting another root canal unless the endodontist or dentist sees something that warrants a root canal.

Hi eurso2,

Sinus infections and toothaches are often connected because there is an anatomical communication between some of the upper teeth and the sinuses. The upper canine or incisor teeth can have very long roots and inflammed sinuses can cause these teeth to ache. If a canine tooth becomes infected, the infection can undoubtedly spread into the jawbone into the sinuses. A serious or chronic sinus infection can also spread into the jawbone and into a tooth. However, it is also common to have chronic sinus inflammation without infection that could cause some teeth to hurt.

I am not saying this is your case but more often than not in conventional dentistry, when a dental patient complains repeatedly about a particular tooth hurting, many dentists will suggest to root canal the tooth irrelevant of whether or not there is clinical or radiographic pathology. Their thinking is that a root canal procedure will render the tooth non vital, therefore the patient will stop complaining about the pain. This is never a good option because the tooth will continue to hurt because the source of the problem has not been resolved. Thus the patient then ends up with a tooth that was needlessly made non vital and is now chronically inflammed which can lead into other issues.

Was there evidence on the radiograph that your canine was infected? How does that tooth feel now? Radiographically, is there any pathology with the other canine that began hurting recently?

I think it is wise to seek the opinion of an ENT BEFORE ungergoing another root canal and perhaps go for a cat scan that is done is "slices" to visualize the communication between the various layers of the sinus and oral cavity.

I am ashamed to say this but if I had a penny for every patient that I've seen who had root canals done in teeth that were healthy and their source of pain was NOT originated in their teeth......... I would literally be a multi, multi millionaire!

Do seek an ENT consult and have them check out your situation thoroughly before undergoing any more root canals........ please keep us posted on how things are going!

Bryanna

I just want to add to what Bryanna said so well....I had a lateral incisor that was killing me and the dentist saw absolutely nothing on the x-ray. This was 10 years ago and I was crying my eyes out so he did a root canal. It helped but I still get some pain in those upper teeth so it was probably not the tooth at all and indeed an unnecessary root canal.