Failed Root Canal? Oral Cancer?

[Agamisto]

I had a root canal done on my Upper Right 1st Molar (#14 I think) about 5 years ago. Sometime in June or July 2007 the root canal developed some infection that caused me a lot of pain. I sam my dentist who prescribed penicillin. When this did not work I sam my primary physician who prtescribed a different antibiotic and pain killers that stopped the pain and infection (or so I thought). This past March (2008) the tooth flared-up again. I saw a different dentist who diagnosed a failed root canal (and suggested an apico). 2 days later, following his referral I saw an Oral Surgeon who examined me and prescribed antibiotics. He suggested extraction instead of an APICO because as he explained it may not work and I would be back to square one. Two weeks after this I saw my primary dentist (the one who did the RCT) . Although x-rays showed some infection in the tissue, because I had no pain he did not do anything.

Since then I have had no pain but about three weeks ago I felt a lesion on the gum near the offending root canal. I pricked it with a needle and it oozed some blood. After cleaning it out and rinsing with Listerine I did not think much of it again until a few days later when I noticed that the lesion had formed again. I repeated the pricking and cleaning of blood. I also examined the area with my finger and noticed that there is some hard growth emerging above the gum. I still don't have pain but I feel some tenderness on the right side of my face around the area where the upper-lip ends and the cheekbone begins. That has gotten me very worried especially after reading others' case histories on the web and in this forum. I have an appointment coming up to see my dentist on 12/16/2008. What are some of the questions I should be asking my dentist? Shouldn't he have anticipated these developments?  Should I be looking for a new dentist?

[scottma]

Seeing an endodontist is advised.