Root canal not healing

[WishForCourage]

Hi everyone! I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during these crazy times.

In January it was discovered that I had a large infection of my 2nd pre molar. I was given antibiotics and then had RCT 2 weeks after. When the pandemic began I was nervous so I cancelled my appointment to have the root canal finished. Last weekend I began experiencing pain. Mainly headaches and a weird pressure feeling in the tooth. It also smelled terrible when I used an inter dental brush around that tooth. My dentist is open for emergencies only and I was seen last Wednesday. She cleaned out the tooth and put medicine in and temporarily sealed it. Everything felt fine until today. The pain is back again. When I use an inter dental brush around that tooth I can smell the medicine but no foul odor. I'm scheduled to have the root canal finished this Wednesday but I just dont think the infection is healing. I plan on calling the dentist on monday to let her know what's going on.

What could be the reason that the infection wont go away? I'm afraid she is going to refer me to a specialist and that it will be hard to get an appointment due to the coronavirus. Would extraction be an option? I'd be ok with that just to stop the infection and pain!

Thanks for reading and for any help!!

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Wishforcourage,

I love your name here, I don't have an answer but did want to encourage you and say I wish the best and hopes things will settle down and antibiotics will help kick in , also hope that your dentist will be able to possibly help you on Wednesday. HOpe she gives you an option you can bear with to get rid of this pain quickly.

 

[Sevena]

It could be that the sealing your dentist used has partially deteriorated, leaving the nerve exposed. As for how the virus is affecting appointment times and what procedures dentists are willing to do, that's hard to know, because every practice in every region is different.

For now, take painkillers as needed. You can combine an NSAID (ibuprofen/aspirin) in combination with paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) to keep the pain down, but don't combine ibuprofen and aspirin as they are the same type and can have nasty side-effects. Rinse your mouth gently with salt water after every meal too, to reduce the risk of food particles getting stuck and inflaming things further.

Hang in there! I hope you get your treatment very soon! ?

 

[Acheygirl]

So very sorry your having this pain and dealing with this. I can sympathize with having pain so your not alone.

It could be that there is still infection in there or maybe just some inflammation as things are healing. Sometimes it can take weeks for a root canal tooth to calm down. Also sometimes the meds they put in can be irritating and the periodontal ligament can get inflammed and cause an ache. Maybe she can do an x-ray of the tooth and see how it's coming along? Please hang in there and keep us posted?

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi,

It a tough situation you are in. Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with solid input without checking you in person. IF the tooth is very painful and there is swelling and something extreme like that- it sounds reasonable to lessen the infection and then perform the RCT, but if it's not that extreme- you should let your dentist to decide.
It is also important to realise that patients are not good in diagnosing themselves. Patients know best when something is wrong (pain is an indicator) but they are not good in knowing the reason for that. What happens then is that the mind goes to the worst case scenarios. I call it the uncertainty factor, and you are invited to check out a video I made about that: