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dental abcess
Dear Roy,
Two years ago I had an abcess that was treated with a root canal. About a month ago I began to have an odd sensation in that tooth and noticed my face was inflammed in that area. Both my new dentist and an endotontist have told me that it is unlikely the initial abcess was ever completely eliminated by the root canal given the short time that has elapsed and its size. I understood that without immediately taking an antiobiotic I could run the risk of having the infection enter my blood stream. I agreed to a 10 day regimen of Amoxycillin. I later understood that the antiobiotic would not eliminate the abcess, just decrease it; that the only way to eliminate the bacteria causing the abcess was to either retreat the root with another root canal or to have the tooth extracted. Wanting to keep the tooth as long as possible, I opted for the former. The endontist could not complete the retreat due to calcification of one of the roots. I will be having the tooth extracted, but, in the meantime, the abcess has flaired up again and presented itself by inflammation of my face in the area of the tooth, my lower left jaw. The tooth is the next one over from the molar on that side. (The wisdom teeth were impacted and removed some 15 years ago.) Although I have yet another prescription for amoxycillin, is there anything you could recommend I do in lieu of taking it for the second time in a little over a month? Is this chronic abcess in any way connected to the frequent sinusitis bouts I had this spring and fall?
As usual, anything you could tell me would be a help.
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Mary Elizabeth
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