Red Tonsils

Last month, I caught my partner's cold. It lasted a week then went away. It went away except my tonsils stayed red. And they have been red now for the past 6 weeks. They don't bother me, I have no other symptoms, no cough, no sore throat, no swollen glands in neck, and there are no whilte spots. I went to the clinic and the doctor told me it could be caused by my abcess (abscess) tooth. It is the last tooth in the back and the gland under it is big. I have made an appointment to get it fixed but it won't be until the end of next week. My question is, can my tooth cause my tonsils to get red like that? Once in a while, my tooth will ache and my tonsils will ache as well. Sometimes it will ache on its own, but the aching will last only a few seconds. Sometimes, it won't even ache for a few days. Please, I would like to know what is causing this.

[Jerome Bogin, D.D.S.]

If the MD thought it could be caused by the abscessed tooth then it is certainly a possibility. The tonsils are lymph glands and the infection may be draining into them.If after the tooth problem is corrected the redness doesn't go away then I think you would have to look in another avenue.