Question:
Last February, I went to the dentist with tooth pain. The tooth was
very tender and achy but not very temperature susceptible. An
xray was taken (tooth is right first molar) and showed nothing really
obvious for the tooth but my sinuses were swollen (it was peak
allergy season). The dentist prescribed penicillan and had me come back
in 3 weeks. The penicillan did the trick. But I did notice a spot
on the gum which when rubbed made the tooth feel weird. SO we
decided to wait a little longer. Well, I noticed the spot on the
gum would sometimes sort of swell up but I was in no pain so waited
until May for my cleaning and that is when they decided the tooth was
abcessed.
Now we are waiting between the first and second treatments.
What kind of surgery is this? What is involved? Is it just done in the
dentist's chair? Is there something I should know about this?
Answer:
I usually wait one week on average to fill a endo. Flareups after the
second appointment are rare.
The bubble is the point where the enlarging bone abscess has pierced
through the rather thin plate of bone. The pus bubbles up under the
gums which are semi-elastic and finally bursts through and drains into
your mouth.
In some instances the anatomy of the nerve filled canals are far more
complex than usual and cannot be treated successfully in the normal
fashion. The key to success is removing all contact between dead nerve
and bone. If you cannot remove the nerve from the inside out then you
can go in surgically and chop off the tip of the root diagonally and
place an amalgam to seal off the roots.
The surgery is done in the office with local anesthetic and usually is
not particularly painfull.
