I have a tooth that has been bothering me for a while. Now, the pain is traveling up to my cheek. I went to see the dentist. All I wanted was some antibiotics. He insists the tooth is infected and that I need a root canal. I’m not looking to get an extra procedure. I just want the antibiotics. After a LOT of back and forth, he agreed to give them to me, but only if I signed something that essentially said that I understand this won’t completely solve my problem and I have been told that I need additional treatment, such as a root canal treatment. I signed it, but honestly, I feel like he is being ridiculous. Is there any validity to this or should I just look for another dentist?
Karen
Dear Karen,
I am glad you wrote. While I am not privy to the conversation between you and your dentist and cannot give an opinion on how he went about things, I can speak to the information he is giving you.
Antibiotics do not “cure” a tooth infection. The best they can do is get it under control if it has spread so that you can have the appropriate treatment. If your pain has gone up your cheek then it has definitely spread, so antibiotics as a starting point are the appropriate action to take. However, once your antibiotics run out, then the infection will blow back up again. I would consider your situation a dental emergency.
The only real way to treat an infected tooth permanently is for a dentist to get in there and remove the infected pulp. Your treatment procedure should be to give you some antibiotics to get the infection contained and to schedule a follow-up appointment to take care of the infected pulp.
Ideally, this would be with a root canal treatment because it will save the tooth. If the infection or tooth is too far gone, then you will have to have the tooth extracted. In that case you will also need to replace the tooth so there is not shifting of your bite because of the open space. The reason you don’t want that is because shifting can lead to painful TMJ disorder. Replacing your lost tooth can avoid that.
If it does come to that, the best tooth replacement is a dental implant. However, there are other options.
Your first step, though, is to get this infection dealt with. If you don’t, it will continue to spread. Then, a dental emergency can turn life threatening. Believe it or not, people still die from untreated tooth infections every year.
This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentists Drs. Murphree and Yount.