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Gum looks infeceted after RCT

  • 25-03-2009 2:47pm
    #1
    Morpork
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 728 ✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I got root canal treatment last week on my first pre-molar. On the same day as the first session I noticed the gum looked discoloured and slightly bruised or swollen. I went back a yesterday to finish the job. He removed the temp filling, filed the canals again and put the permanent filling in.

    The gum looked better yesterday, but today it's worse. It looks red and swollen at the gum line, between the filled tooth and the adjacent tooth. Further up its got a whiteish discolouration with bits of blood red going on.

    It's quite tender to touch also. The tooth itself hurt for about 3 hours and after that I haven't had any pain.

    Do you think it's infected? Or maybe it's just from the trauma of the job? I didn't get prescribed any meds apart from Melfen (for pain I guess) and he didn't mention anything about the gum after the RTC.

    Any advice would be great, thanks.


Comments

  • #2
    Kila
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 436 ✭✭Kila


    Hi. Some pain after a root canal is normal, and it can last for a while. If the gum begins to swell there may be an infection. If you're at all worried about infection, you should get back to your dentist as soon as possible. Infection could cause you no end of pain and hassle.

    In the mean time, gentle swooshing (rather than vigorous gargling) with warm salt water may help to relieve some of the pain, and may also bring down the infection a little if it hasn't progressed too far. If the discolouration you see if just a little gum bruising and swelling, then the salt water will also help to soothe the irritation of the above and toughen up the area a little.

    (This is obviously not to be used in place of professional dental advice, just a supplementary treatment which may ease the pain. I found it very soothing in the days after dental extractions, for example. The use of salt water after dental treatments and extractions is, however, recommended by a number of sources, such as the British Dental Health Foundation)


  • #3
    Morpork
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 728 ✭✭✭Morpork


    Hi Kila, thanks for your reply.

    I'm going back to the dentist in a couple of days, so hopefully it's just a bruising and will go away soon. Until then I'll continue to use the salt water. I wonder, if it is infected would antibiotics have a good chance of killing the infection or would I have to get an apicoectomy done? I don't really have time as I'm moving to away for one year. Could I live with an infected gum for a year?


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