Dental Abscess below a filled root canal tooth major pain help!

Posted , 41 users are following.

I have been suffering severe pain on the right hand side of my face/ jaw on and off since the end of December. At worst it’s totally debilitating can’t eat or sleep and can’t focus on anything. I have been to the dentist 3 times so far in mid January he prescribed amoxycilin which did very little. I was then waiting for an emergency appointment for 2 weeks when I finally got in for an ex-ray they weren’t able to read it for another week and a half as the x-ray machine had broke. I finally got in for another appointment last wednesday to get the results of my x-ray and start treatment. As I had expected and been telling my dentist I have an abscess below a root canal tooth, this tooth had always felt weird and sensitive and have been telling my dentist this for years. He told me he doesn’t think all the pain I have been experiencing is from this abscess as the nerve should be dead yet I feel it emanates from here although when its severe the whole side of my jaw is intensely throbbing top and bottom. Basically he has started to remove deep filled fillings on my back right molars and put in a new treatment that builds a layer of false tooth between the nerve and filling of a deeply filled tooth. He said he would ask me in a month if I would like to have the abscessed root canal re done or pulled. In the mean time I am still in acute pain that is stopping me sleeping at times. This can be better for a day or so and then come on more severe and debilitating again. I feel really drained and generally quite unwell as its been almost two months of suffering with this. I wanted to ask two questions. Has any one got advice on whether I should pull or try and save the root canal tooth? Has anyone experienced the same thing? I have read some scary stuff about abscess potentially causing auto immune diseases (I already have ulcerative colitis which Is an AI disease) Also should I go see a second dentist as mine seems to be very slow and even after diagnosis he wants me to wait a month after already suffering for two months! I have managed to keep it at bay some of the time with garlic capsules, salt water and tea tree mouth washes, clove oil and lots of strong pain killers. I am now in the more intense agonising pain and even pain killers don’t help, I believe it is the abscess causing this agony I just feel really let down by my dentist and Im not sure what to do next... need some relief please help!

3 likes, 50 replies

50 Replies

Prev Next
  • Posted

    I recommend you skip the dentist and visit a Periodontist.  I had a tooth that was crowned and root canaled and for years when I would go in for my teeth cleaning, I would always mention this tooth that was bothering me.  Everytime I was told the same thing, the tooth has been root canaled and the x-rays never showed anything.  I finally went to a Periodontist as a last resort.  By the time I went to see him, I was in so much pain and frustrated that this had gone on so long being told there's no reason that tooth should be hurting.  The Periodontist did the circular CT scan and it showed I had abcess under the root canal.  The bottom line on that tooth was too have that tooth that I had spent so much money on (crown, root canal) now had to be taken out and replaced with an implant.  That was last year.  Fast forward to this year - I have a tooth that starts aching, then throbbing, and it too is unbearable.  I called my regular dentist, and said I know that tooth is crowned, can you verify if it has been root canaled. I knew the answer was going to yes.  They said my previous x-ray looked fine, maybe I was just clinching my teeth.  Yeah, No.  So today, I was back at the Peridontist.  My tooth was throbbing so back, he had to numb it up just so we could get through the CT scan and discuss the options.  Turns out my crown and root canaled tooth had an abcess below it the size of a grape.  He said if I had waited another week that abcess was so close to the nerve, if it had gotten to the nerve, I could have lost the feeling to that side of my face.  Sad thing too, the infection was so bad, with my previous implant, he used the drill to get my tooth out.  This one was so bad, he gave it a couple of tugs and the tooth came right out, so it already loose.  I wish you luck, I know how you feel.  Sometimes you feel you are just not being heard or they don't believe you because after all the tooth HAS been root canaled.  I kept hearing that over and over.  Good Luck! and go see a Periodontist - that's their specialty. 
  • Posted

    Hi. It's relieving to know that I am not alone in this kind of problem, very similar. In fact I am suffering of  unbearable pain now  which started 2 days ago. Didn't go to work since.  I went to a periodontist yesterday and found out I have infection in the tooth with root canal. He prescribed amox and pain reliever. On my second day and no relief yet. I was advised to have a dental bridge after pain subsides. Estimate is almost $4thou and it could go higher. 

    May I ask advise from good readers please. Can I have my tooth extracted after the pain and infection gone then  3 months after I will have the dental bridge.  I don't have dental insurance and can't afford the cost so my plan is to have the bridge done in my country because it's 80% less. The periodontist told me after extraction, bridge should be done in a week . Is is true? Please help. Thanks for your time.

  • Posted

    I am 49years old.  I do not take antibiotics for health reasons, even for oral surgury.  I had a root canal when I was while in my teens.  I have lots, I have bad teeth with no enamel on them due to bad genetics.  In my 30's it went bad, got an absess at the end of the root ( molar) near the bone.  Turned into bone infection, very painful, I know what you are going through.  Had the root canal re done, they said it may come back. It did, twice. The reason is, the inside of the tooth has bumps inside it and they can not really clean it all the way out.  That is the way they described it.  Stuff keeps trying to ooze out the end of the root into my bone.   I did not want the tooth pulled. So they drilled a hole into the gums above the tooth, snipped off the end of the root so the stuff could come out of the root easier. My body has to absorb it.  When it returns, I eat tons of raw garlic, ( it is an antibacterial, kills infection) but it has to be raw. Take clove oil, a few drops in water, drink sevaral tablespoons of applecider vinigar every day in water with lemon.  Also take 5 grams of vitamin C every day. Along with eating very well. 

    The infection this deep takes a while to go away even with antibiotics, even longer with nutrition.  Rubbing pure clove oil on your gums and garlic helps, but does not take all the pain away.  I have one right now again, years later and have decreased the swolen pocket in my gum a lot, in 2 weeks with lots of garlic, clove oil, vinigar and I have bumped up my vitamin C to 5 grams (powdered) a day.  It is working. 

    When my imune system gets low stuff starts to happen, so now I take lots of vitamin C and have cleaned up my nutrition.  I have to be on top of eating well to keep things like this at bay. I would say, ask them if they can clip off the tip of the root of the tooth, so it an empty, take antibiotics if you can stomach them, but then you will need to work on building your imunse system, which really helps if it is strong in these kinds of cases. 

    Good luck.  

    • Posted

      May I ask how you cleaned up your diet? I struggle with weaker enamel and have had many tooth abscesses etc. I'm trying to find any way I can to prevent this from continuing to happen to me.

      Thanks!

  • Posted

    Hello - so sorry for your pain!  I have had a similar situation. I had a root canal done and that went fine. Then my tooth (back molar) back  corner cracked (gum side not the cheek side)and  was sticking out into the side of my tongue . I couldn't get into my dentist for a week (he was on holidays).  Wow! More painful than prior to the root canal. So I went to a dental clinic (huge mistake). What they did there was they removed the back corner and then filled it all in with more filling. Yes- filled it all with filling.  Well,  then came the access infection. Antibiotics along with major stomach upset. Now I have a little hole between the older filling (but still new) & the newer filling done to fill in the back corner. My regular dentist office suggested to go back and as they should fix it.  I told  them not a chance are they going near my mouth!!! The root canal was $1,400. I went to a specialist.  I didn't know I wouldn't even get a filling done with the procedure- filling was another $380 . & then the last another $350.)   So, my now $2,000 is going to be pulled. I'm done with it!! I didn't even get to the cap (which is another $1,000.) Oh  BTW-  did I tell you this ALL happened over 2 months!!! The difference between your dentist and mine is that mine does listen to me.  I see him next week and I'm sure he will be upset over the work the dentist at the clinic did.  I suggest you do get a new dentist that addresses your concerns .  You are paying for his mortgage.   Remember you are paying his salary!!!  Check your local Doctors/Dentist rating sites (by patients) or ask a friend or Co worker if they could recommend one.  I wish you the best of luck!!!

    Someone who truly understands....

  • Posted

    OMG! I'm amazed to read all of this. What horror stories and I'm in the same boat!

    In fact, I have a dental appt in 2 hours. My story is long but I'll try to get to the point: I have bruxitis so they say...(grind my teeth at night). Bc of this I was damaging nerves in my teeth and was told (due to pain) that I had to have one root canal after the other. Well, it was either due to pain for one tooth or due to infection for the others (lost count of how many -- maybe 3-5 total). On one of these rc is a huge abscess. Never casued me pain but now feel pressure in that area. It's been getting more and more tender when I press on cheek (upper left) and it's tender when I put toothbrush in that area over the last year. My insurance (blue cross) denied covearge of my dentist's treatment plan -- including the mouthguard! But my concern now is the spreading of this infection, I feel pressure now in the same spot in the back of my head and my body just does not feel right. I'm very healthy otherwise, I excersise eat well and take good care of myself. My relationships with dentists have just been horrible since I was a child and it's difficult to find someone who listens, doesn't push their agenda along with an insurance provider that will cover the needed costs. It's all very sad...

    I feel for all of you, and I just wanted to throw in my support and let you know you're not by yourselves. I know I thought I was.

    best wishes to all.

    • Posted

      I would like to ask you about the pressure you felt on the back of your head. I have been suffering from sinus problems and have had pressure in my teeth and back of my head. I had sinus surgery but did not releave the pressure. I now found out I have to have a root canal and the pain in my teeth was due to that issue not the sinus. Can you have pain in the back of your head from needing a root canal? Did the root canal fix your pressure?
  • Posted

    I hvae much the same problem as all of you 

    The latest being an infected root where a crown was situated ..the crown was always badly fitted and so the bite was wrong and this made the crown unstable so it kept coming out ..this Autumn yet agin out it came and I was feeling pain so I went along to the dentist to be told the root was cracked and I had an infection ..the crown can not go back in 

    the Detist proceeded to pack it with material of some sort to stop me getting food particles in it etc ... I asked " what about the Infection" he said " that will go when the root comes out " but he wasn't taking it out 

    The sad thing is that all the crowns that have been fitted by this dentist have all gone and I am left with a gap beyond this one and I have a lot of bone loss 

    For this reason I am loath to go and have this root out although I have to ( it should have been removed  insted of being packed )  I have made an appointment with an NHS  dentist for the 19th january do you think some bone can be protected just in cas I can afford an Implant at a later date ..its too late for the rest of the gum where those previous crowns were but any advise gratefully accepted ..I am so scared of this latest procedure 

    I never wished to have dentures which was why I was taking the dentists advice when he suggested crowns now with this gap I feel it ight be the only way to move forward ...can dentures be fitted (if one can't afford an implant or there is not enough bone for them ) with a clip/wire around/across  bottom 4 front teeth to the other side so that due to lack of gum they wouldn't be  loose 

    I'm desperate to get the Right advice it really is affecting my confidence 

    Many Thanks - C  

     

  • Posted

    I had a tooth on the upper left hand side that I had a root canal and crown done on. I have been having nerve pain and muscle spasms through out my body, nausea, severa headaches you name it. I have been very ill for months. The tooth was abscessed and it got to the point anitibotics would not treat the infection. I had oral surgery today and they had to surgically remove the tooth, roots and cut the abscess out. The surgeon said eveything including teh kitchen sink came out when they opened the tooth up. Get that tooth out ASAP trust me it is what's making you sick and if your dentist will not do then you find a qualified dentist who will.    
    • Posted

      Hopefully you see this message. Did the abscess show up on the X-ray?
    • Posted

      Any infection will show on xray, it is a dark area (thats the infection) under the root. And most of the time we dont even know we have infection. If left there it van grow and become like a cyst on top of your gum. Thats what i had, i didnt know that the cyst was there. One day i checked my gum above the tooth and ot was a ball sticking out. Even the dentist didnt see it when i had my cleaning done , they didnt tell me even on the x rays! Thats when i decided to change dentist. I found a holistic one the only in my area. I had my first 2 root canal teeth taken out yesterday., he cleaned the area, put bone, treated with ozone water and gas, and covered the area with gum tissue and stiched it. So there isnt any whole there. Gave me holsitic remedy for pain and it works! No pain from the extraction the day after! I have few more teeth to get extracted that are root canals.

      95 % of the root canals get infected, best is to remove the tooth other wise even if root canal therapy is done maybe in a month infection will happen again and u wont even feel it...

      Best is take any root canals out, i knownits though but best for your health trust me.

    • Posted

      I got my root canal in December 2015. Since then my Heath is going down. I've been having arthritis like symptoms like my hands swelling and red, and tingling arms, nerve pain, jaw pain, neck pain, etc. I'm convinced it's because of the root canal cause it all started then. I went to a biological/holistic dentists and he said I could be right. But here's the thing....the X-rays looked fine.

      He referred me to an oral surgeon if I wanted to still extract it. I went today and the oral surgeon refused to extract it.

    • Posted

      Oh wow, refused to extract.. Def u need to keep searching for a better dentist, which is what i did too. When i went to the endodontist he said one the root canals didnt have infection but when i went to the holistic one he showed me the infection. Not all of the dentist care or just dont want to deal with it ..

      I already had my mind set on extracting all the root canals wether infected or not.

      And yes a root canal can majorly impact your health and it has defentely mine. Thats why i want to be healthy and thats where health starts getting rid of the causes. Also look into zirconium implants which do not contain metal as the titanium do. Zirconium are the healthier way to go.

      Read about the dangerous of root canals..

      Hope this helps andni really hope u find a good dentist more importantly caring and knowladgable...

      Let me know if u have any more questions, love to help!

    • Posted

      Tomorrow I am going to the endodontist who did the root canal to get her opinion and have new X-rays taken. I'll let you know how it goes.
    • Posted

      I think I angling through the same thing.

      I got a number of root canals in my 20s and have been

      fighting migraines, neck pain, fevers, cardiac tachicardia, lung ailments, joint pain,

      muscle pain, unexplained rashes, vision disturbances, periodic hair loss,

      Problems with brain fog and word finding and

      Numerous other ailments ever since. I've been to surgeons, dentists, or

      Oral surgeons, neurologists, infectious disease specialists, etc.

      I've had 15 sets of dental X-rays over the years and nothing has shown

      Up but recently I went to a dentist specializing inTMJ and he took a series

      Of images with iCAT and it showed an abscess under each root canaled

      Tooth, the smallest the size of a pencil eraser. I then went to a HOLISTIC dentist

      Who recommended I have all root canaled teeth removed so now I have appt with

      HOLISTIC oral surgeon who will pull those teeth and send off to a lab to

      Identify the specific bacteria that are in the abscesses and I can be treated

      With antibiotics. I am so disillusioned with the dental profession at this point. I hope to

      Regain my health after this but not sure if this is possible.

    • Posted

      Thank you for your story!! What is iCAT? Please let me know what happens after you get them extracted!
    • Posted

      iCAT Vision is a type of imaging that dentists can use. I had never seen it before my TMJ dentist used it. It actually shows cross-sections of the jaw. My consult is Monday with holistic oral surgeon.
    • Posted

      I was getting various symptoms including increasing pain in the tooth a year after the root canal. I got headaches, decreasing energy, I started getting night sweats eventually and up and down fevers I didn't realize I was getting until we randomly started checking my temperature. I'm not even kidding ended up about 5 days from death before I finally went to the ER and it turned out the dental infection got into my blood, attached to my aortic valve and started growing on my heart. I'm now facing inevitable valve replacement (open heart surgery at the age of 35). It's worth looking into with your doctor because mine was having a real hard time diagnosing it (endocarditis). It made me septic and almost killed me. The one procedure getting infected and me ignoring the pain for too long almost cost me my life and will forever change how I live. I'm not quite in the clear with my heart for my doctors to even approve me going to the dentist to correct it yet. Had a month off work because of this. Don't take the pain lightly it could lead to very serious consequences. Waiting too long to get it resolved was the worst decision I have ever made.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.