I am so sick of dealing with this tooth. It has probably been over a year now that I’ve been fooling with it. It started as an abscessed tooth that I went to an emergency dentist to pursue treatment. He didn’t want to mess with it and sent me to a root canal specialist. I had the root canal done but the dentist gave me the impression that he wasn’t confident about it because my roots were curved. This isn’t what I wanted to hear since this was a very expensive procedure. I went back to my normal dentist to get a crown. Then, a couple months past and my face swelled up like you wouldn’t believe! When I went into the emergency dentist again, he said it was infected – again! I made the decision to let the emergency dentist pull it because I wanted to be done and move on. Lately, I keep getting this foul taste in my mouth and a lot of sinus pressure. Is it possible that the emergency dentist screwed up? I’ve never had previous sinus issues. Maybe there is a fragment of the infected tooth left behind? Any insight?
-Jo Ann in Georgia
Jo Ann,
It sounds like you haven’t had the most pleasant experiences through this ordeal. If you ever run into a similar issue again, it’s always wise to return to the root canal specialist. The tooth very well could have been successfully retreated and the tooth extraction could have been avoided altogether.
Even though the symptoms you are experiencing with your sinuses now resemble an infection, tooth infections do not linger a tooth is extracted because the source of the infection is gone. If part of the tooth was missed, it wouldn’t be causing this problem. The area should be healing after a tooth extraction and any infected material would have successfully drained from the site. However, the sinus could have been perforated during the extraction or a fragment of the tooth could have been pushed into the sinus, and that could cause the symptoms you’re experiencing.
That said, your symptoms do sound as if something isn’t right. But it likely is the fault of the emergency dentist you saw. If you aren’t in pain, then it would be good to follow up with your regular dentist. If indeed it is an infection that is lingering, although rare, a stronger does of antibiotics will be needed. If you are in pain or discover swelling, then don’t hesitate to schedule another emergency dentist appointment.
This post is sponsored by York PA dentist Donald H. Currie, DMD