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Question:
Woke with pain in upper (12?) tooth. Saw my dentist at 3:00 that day. He
sent me to endodontist who stated I had massive infection. When giving
injection the pain was such that I screamed, something I have never done
before. Also tears fell!
Doctor said as soon as he had made a small hole the puss came pouring out. He thought about leaving the toot open but after a while decided everything had drained and that he could complete the root canal proceedure. He gave me a prescription for "Z-Pack" and percodan. He told me to return if there was swelling. The next morning my face was quite swollen to just beneath my left eye.
Went back to doctor, where the gum was opened above the tooth with a hemostat and again infection poured out. He left this opened and gave me prescription for penicillin to be take along with other antibiotic.
Question: Friends suggested the doctor should not have filled the root, should have left it open considering the amount of infection. Were they correct? Can the infection spread to other parts of my body or head? ...Visitor from GA
Answer:
It sounds like you are having trouble and I wish for you that you were not
having the trouble.
To get to your last point first I finish 99% of my root canal treatments the
same day now because that is the best way to do it. If I can get the
infection out I rarely give any antibiotics any more. At times we do when
I feel they are needed based on what I see at the time.
You have a very serious infection and you need to be followed well. You are
not out of the woods yet! It appears to me that your dentist is
appropriately following you. This is the time to follow directions well and
to let the dentist know if you are not responding well to the treatment
being done. It is a two way street between you and the treating dentist and
you need to actively take responsibility to insure that this goes well. Then
you need to ask him .... How do I never get back here.... He or she will
tell you and can help you... Right now though he or she needs to know if you
are getting worse.
If you are having questions about the level of treatment you are being given
you need to tell him and see if he can answer your questions adequately
enough for you to begin to feel confident in the person who is treating you
who has the education and background to know what to do. Sometimes friends
who have good intentions do not know anything about the circumstances that
were present when you had the tooth treated in the first place. (Even if
they might have some or even a great deal of dental knowledge)
The reality is that you may lose this tooth and it is not the dentist fault
that your tooth had deteriorated to the point where it had to either be
removed or have the nerve and blood vessels removed to save the tooth and
it's function. There are other things that may need to be done like...
retreat the tooth... do an apical surgery to remove what might be a cyst or
some other infection remaining in the area that can not be treated by a root
canal. etc.
I have been pretty pushy here and I apologize if I offended you but this is
important.... If you are not happy with your treatment so far ask for a
referral. That way the next dentist can be up to speed about what has been
done and what he saw when he treated the tooth initially.... That
information is important to the next dentist. If you can regain the lost
confidence then it is time for hand holding. You will get better.... I am
sure about that. You may feel worse first though.
James Sanderson, DMD
Alabama Teeth In An Hour
Alabama Sedation Dentist
1633 Montgomery Highway
Birmingham, AL 35216
(205) 979-6005
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