“Waiting on root canal after deep filling?”
I got a deep filling on a fairly decayed tooth a month ago, for the first few days everything was fine and then I ate something hot and my tooth gave off a stabbing pain. The dentist said the filling has failed and I need a root canal. Now I'm not getting much pain with my tooth unless I put something hot directly on it, other than that it is grand. She did a cold test on it with some air thing and it didn't hurt. Then when she went to do the root canal she took an x-ray and my roots are Tangled so I have to wait a month to go to a specialist to get it done. But since she did the x-ray my jaw, not my tooth, has been sore, so I thought it was just irritated from getting the x-ray done. But I'm having pain along my jaw bone, cheekbone and it feels like I have an earache, the pain is also not constant, sometimes I'm fine and then out of nowhere it will start hurting. Now today I had to come home from work because I got cold and hot sweats, felt weak, and felt like I was going to throw up. I'm also fairly fatigued. Could this be an infection in my tooth? Surely my dentist would have seen the signs of infection when she did the x-ray a few days ago, and can you have an infection with an actual toothache.
Female | 28 years old
Complaint duration: Month
Medications: None
Conditions: None
5 Answers
Most likely the nerve inside your tooth got injured from a combination of the original decay and also the failed filling. It's hard to say if the tooth is infected, but either way, you need to have the root canal and that should resolve the problem.
Hi, the signs of the infection are not seen on the x-ray immediately. Decision is made only on the clinical findings. The symptoms you describe sounds like you do need a root canal done.
Without seeing your X-ray, it is difficult to say. Based on the symptoms you described, you may have suffered from stretch stress on your TMJ which can cause shooting pain in ear (it is called referred pain). I recommend using hot and cold compress for 5 minute alternatively few times a day and avoid hard food. Advil (unless your allergic) is always best choice for analgesic. As for the tooth infection, if there is no swelling or pain if you press the tooth with your finger, it is not likely that it is infected, but needs to be checked. These are signs of infected tooth: spontaneous, lingering pain that does not go away for hours. If you have difficulty opening your mouth, you need to report that right away as it can become systemic quick. Hope this helps.
The nausea and fever are not related to the tooth. You definitely want to see your regular physician for that. The pain near your ear could be related to the tooth or could be clenching pain. Very common symptom for someone who is clenching too much especially at night. The cold test is fairly conclusive that the tooth needs a root canal. If you put cold on a tooth, it should hurt. If it doesn’t, something is wrong with the nerve. The infection might not be big enough for the dentist to see it yet but the cold test tells her what she needs to know. In summary, get the root canal, check for clenching, and go see your physician.
Those are great questions. Based on your symptoms and the tooth’s history you definitely have an infection and need an antibiotic. Xrays don’t show early infections as there has to be enough bone destruction from the infection to show up. Hopefully you can find a specialist that can see you sooner. I’d be happy to look at it as well if you are near Utah.
