Question:
I have a tooth abcess at the root (shown on x-ray in June) and on a
panorex in September. I just found out about it and am completing a
round of anti-biotics to clear up the infection. I have no pain in the
tooth hence my surprise about the abcess. This also explained the
swollen jaw under the tooth a couple of weeks earlier but I wasn't
close to any dentists. Again.. no pain with this episode either and it
went away.. tho there was a swollen area on the jawbone for a couple of
days. My question is.. do I have to lose the tooth? There is already a
cap on the tooth but no root canal. I am having no pain or discomfort.
If I have to lose that tooth then I will have great difficulty eating
as there will be no teeth in that area to maintain my bite. The dentist
has suggested a partial denture in place of the tooth. Is this really
my only option? I know all situations etc are different and you can't
examine me on the net but in a general sense is it possible to answer
this? Won't the anti-biotic take care of the infection and since there
is no pain just leave the tooth in place.. no? Would it be ok for me to
just put off having the tooth removed and see what happens? Is it safe
with a previous abcess?
Answer:
If you read the thread entitled "dental implant or leave it alone" on
this forum, you will discover that antibiotics are ineffective for
infections involving the root because there is no blood supply to the
root.
If you've had a pulpal abscess your options are root canal treatment or
extraction. If the tooth is restorable and periodontally healthy, I
recommend you consider saving the tooth.
The antibiotics will treat the infection but not the cause of the
infection (ie the dead tooth). Therefore it will keep recurring.
The root treatment will remove any shreds of necrotic nerve tissue
still inside the tooth and will kill off most of the bugs inside the
tooth. The tooth is then filled up and sealed.
To have any chance at all of saving the tooth Root Canal Treatment is a
must. However, like Steven said, if the tooth lost a lot of bone
support(moving easily) then it's prognosis is not good. It's probably
not worth saving.
Options after extraction will be implant, beside removable partial
denture.
They have been most helpful. I'm to
have the infected tooth and roots removed this week. This infection has
been around a long time. Once this has been removed will the
anti-biotic finally be able to clear up the infection? Any ideas on how
long it will take? ..estimates? I'm looking forward to getting this
over with and feeling better again.. this has been going on since June!
If the tooth in fact is the source of the infection, you should feel
fine in a couple of days. Ordinarily antibiotics would not be necessary
once the source of the infection is removed. Sometimes if there is a
lot of infection in the tissues or the patient has other health issues
we may put a patient on antibiotics.
Either way, you should be fine.
