Standard treatment root canal, pregnant, already done? What on earth?

Question

I've had dental problems my entire life. I had a root canal on my left canine several years ago.

I went to the dentist in early April and she ground down and put veneers on most of my front top teeth.

Recently I noticed I'm getting a "pimple like" thing above the tooth that had that root canal many years ago. I pop it, and it comes back a couple days later. It doesn't hurt, it just feels like pressure is in my sinus ?? Weird. I assume this is some sort of tooth abscess.

I am confused however -- because this tooth has already had a root canal done on it, which is standard treatment for an abscess!

Do I need another root canal or something?? How on earth did it get infected??

And since I'm pregnant, I know that novocaine isn't a problem after the first trimester, (I'm 3 mos and a week right now) but I'm allergic to penicillin and erithramycin -- so what antibiotic can they give me??

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow and asking him. Then off to the dentist of course.

I'm curious though what this is and how it could've become infected when it's already had a root canal?

Answer 1

I'm a dental assistant of two yrs.  I do 2-3 root canals a day.  Sometimes old root canals can go bad.  If it was done a few yrs ago, they use to use a different kind of filler that sometimes didn't seal everything up.  Now we use a soft pink rubber filling that works a lot better.  Or, a tooth on either side of the root canal tooth could be infected and the root canal tooth is just where the infection decided to build up.  You could also have a gum infection.  Pregnant women tend to have more mouth problems bc the body is going crazy from being pregnant.

If we had a pregnant woman needing a root canal, and they weren't too far along, we'd do it then bc there's less risk of other problems happening.  But if they were pretty far along, we'd get rid of the pain and just wait til after the baby was born.

There's all kinds of meds out there, so if you are allergic to one kind, they can give you something else.

Good luck with the baby and the tooth!

Answer 2

I'm not sure. hmm that weird. ma bey if u have had stress over pregnancy i t could be caused by that? i used to have one it went away in a couple of weeks with meds. mines was caused because of stress so mabey you can just relax. but i don't know what caused it. I'm sorry if i didn't help! hope you are okay!

Answer 3

definitely its a tooth abscess, u may ned to repair ur root canal filling or make simple operation called apicectomy meaning cutting the tip of the root causing the problem, its takes 15-25 min, for antibiotic therapy, consult ur gynecologist for augmentin 1gm/12 hours

Answer 4

sounds like a failed root canal.  during pregnancy hormones are all over the place, as im sure you know, which can effect you body's ability to resist infections.  Even if done properly, a small percentage of root canals do fail.  retreatment of the root canal, especially on a canine is relatively easy.  the biggest concern is the veneers.  it is possible that during tooth preparation for the root canal that the veneer could fracture.  be prepared, again its unlikely but possible.  a surgical retreatment of the root canal is another possibility.  apicoectomy is the procedure where a small incision is made in the gums, the bone is tunneled through and the tip of the root is then removed along with any infected tissue.  it is more invasive but removes the possibility of damaging the veneer.

Drug of choice of you're allergic to Pen and Erythromycin= in my office Zithromax.  it is a family member of the erythro but most "allergies" to erythro aren't true allergies but intolerances.