tooth infection

[snistopher]

Wow...it's nice to know a place like this exists!  About five years ago I had a root canal done on the bottom left molar by an endodontist.  Last weekend I started to experience pain in my left side.  At first I thought it was my upper teeth, but after 2 visits to my dentist, I was told I have an infection in this molar tooth that had the root canal (I'm not surprised:  I thought the endodontist did a very poor job).  So now I'm on my 2nd day of 500 mg Penicillin QID, and I'm still having pain.  I've been taking 600 mg Ibuprofen Q6HR alternating with 1000 mg Acetometophin Q6HR, which helps, but I was wondering:  how long should I wait till I possibly suspect the antibiotic is not doing the job on the infection?  Also, it was recommended that I have a redo of said root canal, which I agree with, but...is that going to be a very difficult procedure?  I would think removing the cap and then the posts to do a redrilling would be long, arduous, and....painful?  

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions!

Chris

[StratRebel]

To answer your other question, antibiotics usually take 4-5 days before you notice a decrease in symptoms.  Be sure to finish the entire bottle!

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Possibly.  Did they plan to remove the crown and replace it along with redoing the root canal?  They may be able to redo the root canal and leave the crown in place.  Best bet though is to remove everything so they can be sure that its all sound and healthy underneath.  The success rate of a re-treatment of a root canal is considerably lower than the first time a root canal is done so you may want to weigh the cost to benefit (or chance of success) versus an extraction and dental implant.