Non-stop bad odor after cleaning appointment

[frailty]

My dentistry issues have been average my entire life but when I was 16 or so I've had a root canal on an upper molar. Anyhow I admit I don't floss often at all, so when I do, I can smell the rotten/decayed food smell and it's horrible.

Anyhow; of course I don't ever have that smell unless I floss, and I'm on 6-month cleaning appointments and everything was always fine until my last appointment! The hygienist this time was BRUTAL and at the end she kept clawing at my root canaled molar and I could smell that same rotten smell off what she was scraping off, and after that, day after day, I could always smell it! I have no bad taste but I smell it as though she had maybe unclogged something and now it's never-ending.

So now I tried flossing almost daily and I am trying a fluoride mouthrinse almost daily as well and it's NOT going away. I went back to the dentist two weeks later and he down-played my complaint almost completely! No help at all. I am chewing gum at work all the time because I am self-conscious and embarrassed about it.

Could a bacterial infection have the same smell as rotten food, or perhaps food particles got lodged in the canals? (I had 3 roots for that molar).  He took new X-rays and compared them to the 9-month-old ones and says that he can see some activity going on in the canals...

[Jerome Bogin, D.D.S.]

If you have a crown on the tooth I would be concerned that the crown is either loose or there is decay present.This odor is not usually associated with the rct but with the bacteria in and surrounding the tooth.I think this needs to be addressed.

[frailty]

By the way I'm 21 right now so the root canal is still rather new. It has not even been crowned.

[mike1105]

it sounds like the issue is in the soft tissue around the tooth and not "in the canals". d have the area chcked by a gum specialist (periodontist).

[hope2beslimquick]

Hi, I know that exact same smell you are referring too. My boyfriend complains when I floss in the car, after eating something that I feel is stuck in my teeth. Anyhow, if you are self conscious abotu this, you definitley need to get it checked. I never really smell other then when I floss, but just becasue I dont smell it, doesn't mean it aint there. I have other problems that need to be addressed as well. I had a whole in my back tooth. The dentist that I went to, was a first time thing. he did some things to my motuh, that I nver authorized him to do, and is actually demanding I pay him for it. Anyhow, one of the things he did, was put a big filling over the tooth that I had a hole in, it was fine after a few moths, then i began having sever pain. I took all kind of pain killers, and everntually it went away, before I had the chance to get it pulled. Well, the tooth no longer bother me, and almost a year later, I have a huge knot under that tooth. I went to the dentist, because I was a bit scared, the dentist gave me medication, and told me I would eventually have to get this tooth pulled, or get a root canal. WEll my hard headed behind didn't do either, I now have a bump over top of the knot, it is filled with pus, and the more I bust it, the more it comes back. Has anyone ever had this problem, and if so, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS LUMP, and is it as severe as I think it is.

[frailty]

Alright; thanks! In my follow-up I've posted that it is not crowned. I booked an appointment with my nearest periodontist to see if they can find anything, for late May 2007.... so we'll see.