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Periapical granuloma now after everything else

  • Thread starter Thread starter sudzs
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sudzs

sudzs

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Jun 25, 2009
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235
Following on from my other threads about a problem tooth and I'll give a brief synopsis of it all first:

11 months ago a "small cavity" in an upper incisor was filled.
From then on I had headaches, including several migraines, tooth pain, numb sensation in lip and nose tip as well as occasional vertigo. All symptoms happened together and would last for weeks with short periods of respite between these flare ups. Ibuprofen helped. I kept going back to the dentist about it all but the advise was to put Sensodyne on the tooth.

Then the nerve became very sensitive to hot things so must have been dying.
Infection in tooth followed so root canal treatment was carried out.
All of the above symptoms returned after a week or two.
I was referred to an endodontist who x-rayed the tooth and said there was decay under the filling.
Filling was replaced.
Symptoms resolved for several weeks but after that they returned on and off and were thankfully much milder than before.

Full blown symptoms returned a few weeks ago but a little worse than ever now and constant with no respite.
I went back to the endodontist who x-rayed again and said I had an apical granuloma and that he will do the RCT again.

I'm kind of relieved that I now know there is a cause of all my symptoms and hopefully a way to resolve them but now have to face another root canal ordeal. It's scheduled for the end of January so my question is this. Is that too long to wait? I'm terrified it will get a lot worse and take a long time to heal, if at all, following the second RCT. I couldn't sleep last night worrying about it and with the niggling pain there all the time I don't think I can last 7 weeks with it all. And I certainly can't keep taking ibuprofen for that length of time.

So could I ask for this to be considered urgent and maybe they could fit me in soon. Are there any risks of leaving it as it is for so long or am I safe enough waiting 7 weeks to have it done? I'm really very worried and upset by the whole debacle and can hardly think straight.

Any advice appreciated.
 
There's no particular risk in leaving it, other than the symptoms getting worse... (which I suppose is a big enough thing to worry about!) it won't affect the likelihood of the RCT working. An urgent "fit you in" appointment is a waste of time, unless they've got long enough to actually do the full treatment, you can ask them to let you know if they get a cancellation, it's quite common at this time of year.

You might find the re-doing of the RCT to be not quite as traumatic as the first one, basically 90% of the filing and shaping has been done already.
 
Thanks so much @Gordon , it's a great relief to hear that it isn't something that needs to be addressed urgently. I should have asked the endodontist this but at that stage I was assuming I'd get a much sooner appointment. And good to know that it won't be as bad as the last time.

Yes I'm down for a cancellation although the receptionist thought I'd be lucky if an hour long one came in but fingers crossed. And symptoms have settled down somewhat so I'm staying off the Ibuprofen. If I hadn't taken so much over the last 2 and a half weeks I'd probably be taking them now but I think I'll save them for if it gets very bad again.

So regarding causes of an apical granuloma, would this one most likely be the result of the RCT not being the best??
 
So regarding causes of an apical granuloma, would this one most likely be the result of the RCT not being the best??
As a general rule of thumb, then yes. It's a bit more nuanced than that, but that's close enough for rock and roll :-)
 
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