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Spreading tooth infection?

S

Spooked

Junior member
Joined
Dec 11, 2012
Messages
12
I am pretty fearful of dentist visits in general and 4-5 months ago, when I suddenly experienced agonising toothache in my upper jaw, I attribute it to my bruxing habit and avoided seeing a dentist, even though the intermittent pain was horrible especially after eating. The tooth also felt sensitive to heat/cold and I don't know how I managed to be in denial for so long.

Last week I finally visited the dentist and he took x rays. Showed me how badly infected the left premolar was, so that it needed a root canal. There was also an area some distance above the tooth on the x ray that looked infected...my dentist said it was the bone.

I had my first root canal session late last week. I am due for a second visit tomorrow, and then I will only get my permanent filling on my third and final visit in Jan. The dentist packed the tooth with medications.

Will the infection in the bone go away once the tooth has been fully treated? He did not give me oral antibiotics. Furthermore, I wonder if the long standing infection has also infected my left maxillary sinus. Since 2 months back, I have been experiencing weird blocked ears that come and go, which an ENT doc suggested might be caused by allergies or inflammation in my respiratory tract...he didn't check my sinuses.

Can the good dentists here tell me if a sinus infection caused by a bad, long standing tooth infection can go away by itself once the bad tooth has been cleaned out and root treated successfully?

Or will I need antibiotics? I am so worried that xmas is coming up and I won't be able to access my GP until the new year.....:o
 
Yes the root treatment will get rid of the infection, you shouldn't need antibiotics at all and your sinus problems could well be related to the infected tooth.
 
I asked my dentist and he said it was not likely because my bad tooth was a premolar. But I read online that infection could spread from premolars as well as molars... Can one trust online resources? Tad confused now...

:scared:
 
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