Did My Elgin Emergency Dentist Leave Infection Behind?

I saw an Elgin emergency dentist a little over a month ago because I had a massive tooth infection. I woke up one morning with half of my face swollen and knew I needed to get in right away. The doctor did a root canal on the spot and prescribed antibiotics to help me get the swelling down. At the time, everything seemed to be going how I expected it to. I was in the chair for a couple of hours, but nothing remarkable happened and the antibiotics did their thing. But, the past few days I’ve noticed a really bad taste in my mouth and this morning the gums above the tooth that had the root canal are very swollen and tender. I think my infection may have come back… either that or the doctor never really got rid of it. Should I see a new Elgin emergency dentist to have it checked out? Is there a possibility that the one I saw didn’t provide proper treatment and caused me to get a new infection?

Thank you,

Jim

Dear Jim,

You should go see an Elgin emergency dentist right away, regardless of whether you find a new one or see first one again. It does sound like the infection is back and it will spread quickly if left untreated.

As far as whether this one did anything wrong or not, probably not. There are a lot of studies that discuss why people get infections after root canals and, while you could be on to something with there being infection left behind, chances are that it didn’t reside in the canal of the tooth. There is research to suggest that bacteria can hide out in dental tubules, or microscopic holes in your teeth. The pulp of your tooth is vital before a root canal, which means antibiotics can kill the bacteria in the center of the tooth. Blood flows to it at that point, as well as to the surrounding tissues. However, blood does not flow through the tubules. They’re generally closed off as well. So, no matter what stage you take antibiotics at, they’re not likely to impact the tubules. Cleaning out the canal thoroughly and irrigating it with something that can kill bacteria is highly effective, which is why so few people have issues after a root canal. However, a few people do wind up with recurrent infections and they tend to flare up once the antibiotics are out of their systems.

You will need to have the root canal redone and the chamber cleaned out again. There is not a guarantee that it will work, but the odds of having a positive outcome are in your favor.

This blog is sponsored byElgin dentist, Dr. Steve Sirin.