Abscess

[Altagracia]

Hello.

About a month ago while I was eating one of my teeth (in which I had already a filling) partially broke. After few days an abscess started to develop at the base of the tooth. I went to a dentist who suggested to remove it. I wanted to save the tooth though, so I went to another dentist who said I could save the tooth by having root canals done and a crown implanted on the top of the tooth. However after the first time he did the root canal my jaw started to swollen a lot and I had to take antibiotics. He did the canals twice again last week but I can't see any improvement regarding the swallening. If I touch it it appears very hard and a bit painful. I don't really know what to do... Even the doctor says it is strange that the lump hasn't gone. After seeing my XRays he said there was a possibility I have another absess to my front tooth. I had root canal and crown on the front tooth as well about 10 years ago. Is it possible it is the front tooth? Please note, however, that, to me the swalloning does not seem to involve the front tooth. Rea

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi

Thank you for your post. Without seeing you its difficult to say which tooth is causing the swelling. Sometimes its possible that two teeth may have problems. Or sometimes a tooth that has been root filled years ago may fail and develop an infection.

With teeth that have apical infection, there maybe a sinus tract discharging pus on the gum. If one of these exists, its possible to place a piece of GP into the sinus tract and trace the route of the infection with an xray to which ever tooth its coming from.

You can always see another dentist to get a second opinion about this but a swelling should not be ignored.