Re: Infected Root Canal Symptoms I experienced

Thank you for posting, I have had issues too. About 15 years ago I had 2root canals, one on each side on my upper last molar. I was told that I had a tendency to grind my teeth. When I was about 22 years old I had one root canal done by a dentist who, mid-procedure, figured out that she could not complete it because of the way my roots were slanted. She had me catch an elevator upstairs to a specialist with my mouth prepped, as we were an hour into the procedure.

It was done, and that was that. A couple years later I had to have another root canal on the other side. At that point was a different dentist that sent me to a specialist to have it done.

When I was 30, I started having pain in my gums above one of the root canals. I went to a new dentist that took X-rays and she could not see any problems with the root at that time. She treated me with Antibiotic mouthwash which seemed to help for a little while and then would come back. This was on the upper right side. I suffered from chronic sinus infections for about 2 years and had chronic breast infections and had to be put on Antibiotics every other month for a couple years straight. Finally the specialist took an x-ray and saw the darkening near the root area and sent me to an oral surgeon to remove the infected root canal tooth. After he pulled the tooth he confirmed that there was no saving it. I was so relieved to not have a single breast infection or sinus infection....until recently.

Late last year I got a horrible case of vertigo BPPV on the left side. I occasionally would have swelling or slight pain in the upper left back molar region. I would floss and rinse with mouthwash. Ironically I had last year switched to a new dentist and he did a full work up, X-rays etc, and had some work done. No root canals though. I had an appt to do work the week I got vertigo and had to cancel my appt because I got so dizzy leaning back there would be no way to sit in the chair. After vertigo went away I completed my dental issues (some minor fillings and replaced a crown).

The vertigo lightly came back a few times since then. But last month while on a trip (I flew in a plane) my jaw started hurting really bad the first night in the hotel. I thought maybe I was clenching in my sleep. It was so painful, and it slowly subsided in about half hour.

The jaw pain would come and go for the next couple days while on my trip and I couldn't WAIT to get back home to see my dentist. I also went to my dr to rule out sinus infection. My dr said that it didn't appear to be sinus since I didn't have a stuffy nose. My dr also said that my vertigo wouldn't be related to a sinus infection (to which I'm not sure is true or not). To appease me she gave me a prescription of Amoxicillan and told me to go dentist for X-rays. And if nothing is wrong with my teeth then I could treat my pain as if it were a sinus infection.

So I did go to my dentist right afterwards and he took X-rays and examined and found nothing wrong with that tooth. So he thought it was a sinus infection. I started Antibiotics immediately. For the next two days I had intermittent extreme jaw pain that would radiate to my ear, and friends told me that I needed a mouth guard. After a couple days and the pain went away but in the past week I have swelling on my gums above the suspect tooth. I haven't experienced the extreme jaw pain as I did last month YET, but I feel pressure in the area, and there is a strange gross taste in my mouth and I think it's from my infected root.

I have left a message for my dentist to contact me ASAP for the next course of action. I can't put this off and dismiss it any longer. What sucks is its a holiday weekend.

Thank you for posting the seriousness of what can happen if root canal issues are not treated right away. I wish I had followed my hunches and went to a specialist last month. I just want to have that bad root canal tooth pulled. It's all the way in the back so I won't get a post/fake tooth because I've been told I'm not s good candidate for posts on my upper due to my bone structure it would drill right into my sinuses. Dentists in general like to SAVE a tooth from being pulled, which isn't always the best thing for our overall health.