healing of infections after a root canal?

[anxietyorama]

I had a root canal done ~2 weeks ago. The tooth was VERY infected (she called it a "hot tooth") prior to the root canal and I had over a week of amoxicillin to calm the infection down enough to be numb enough for the RCT. 2 weeks later there was still some slight swelling/throbbing/dull pain/pressure and I returned to the dentist today. She re-did 2 of the canals (there was no post/crown yet) which was surprisingly painless and quick (what a surprise, considering how painful and complex that same tooth was a few weeks ago!!!) and took more x-rays.

The tooth and the root canal look perfect she says, but there was still some slight shaded areas on the x-ray around the tissue around the roots that she said were still infection, just some generally darkened tissue in the whole area that she said did not look like an abscess. I was on amoxicillin, augmentin, and clindamycin alternatingly for almost a month straight (with terrible side effects!) and my dentist says that she thinks my body should be able to clean up the infection now and that having taken some of the canals deeper should help. I finished 10 days of Clindamycin on Sunday and she does not want to put me on anything else right now. The swelling has definitely gone down drastically in the past week and it only throbs when I run/get my blood pressure up much higher than usual.

Does this make sense? I am a healthy, fit 24 year old non-smoker with no other medical issues. Can my body really heal the remnants of an infection around the tooth?

If so, is there anything I can do to help this out? I was thinking of just taking some vitamin C/echinacea/goldenseal/garlic/vitamin supplements, drinking lots of green tea and water, and eating as healthy and un-sugary as possible for a little while.

 

[Gordon]

Yeah, if the root fillings have been done, your body's own defences should take care of the rest.

 

[olanda]

i've also been wondering this about my root canal. some people have said that they have 'sensations' from their root treated teeth when they're feeling run down/tired so it would maybe make sense that keeping really healthy would help to heal the infection. i've been eating healthy food, exercising and trying (!) not to stress too much. i imagine that taking something like echinacea and drinking green tea really wouldn't hurt at all and i've been having many home-made health shakes and vegetable juices and i haven't eaten any sugar for months now. even if this doesn't help with the root treatment (hopefully it might!) it makes me feel better and generally more healthy at a time when i'm feeling otherwise awful because of my teeth. good luck