Root Canal Complications

My abscess began on January 30th (Sunday). It progresses rapidly. I had a pack of axythomicin 500mg and began taking them that night. The following morning (Monday)I saw my dentist who did an xray and confirmed I had an abscessed second molar on the left bottom. He began a root canal and told me to finish my zpack. My cheek and jaw hurt afterward. I did finish the zpack but the pain was not gone completely so he started me on pennicillan on Feb 7th. On Feb 8th he completed the root canal. He gave me a "block". It took over an hour. He showed me the xray afterward. He had drilled completely though the end of the roots.

The filling that replaces the pulp could be seen in the xray, coming out the ends of the roots of the tooth in little bubbles. He put in a temporary filling and I am still on the pennicillin. My tooth hardly hurts at all. But I have pain in my jaw. Sometimes the pain radiates to the front of my lip and up toward my ear. My lip and face tingles. I feel sick, achy and nauseous sometimes. Like I have the flu. I am running a low grade fever of approx. 99.6, on and off and have been all week. Advil seems to help. It has now been 6 days since the actual root canal. I have 1 1/2 days of penicillin left to take and continue on the advil and alternate with tylenol. Is this normal to feel this bad from a root canal?

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Root Canal Complications

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Feb 16, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Pain after root canal
by: Nick Konev, owner of Mexican Dental Vacation

First of all, I am not a dentist, I am merely sharing my experiences that I have had in the many years that I have owned Mexican Dental Vacation. Any comments I make here should not be taken as medical or dental advice, for that you will need to see a dentist.

Having said all of that, the symptoms you describe don't seem to be normal. A root canal is done to relieve dental pain, not cause it. You should have had almost instant relief right after the root canal.

It seems like what you saw in the x-ray was that the filling material (gutta percha) was extending past the apex, or the opening at the end of the root. This is not a good result, and does happen, and may be the cause of the pain you describe. In some rare cases nerve damage may result if the filling material is not gutta percha and extends well out of the root apex.

You need to see the same dentist immediately, or if you can not get in to his office quickly, see another dentist.

If you see another dentist, they will be honest with you as to the cause of your pain, whether it is because the filling material is extending past the apex, or another reason. Dentist should not ever cover up anything done improperly by another dentist, and will let you know what you need to do. But, your first course of action should be to go back to the dentist that performed the work originally to see the cause of your pain.

Good luck, I hope it is not anything serious and can be set right quickly. If you need answers right away, feel free to call our office toll-free at 1-800-959-2061, and remember, we are always here to do any dental work that you may require.

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