Root canal pain?

i had a root canal done 2 years ago and it recently became "reinfected". i went on antibiotics for 6 days then had the root canal re-done. i finished up the last day of antibiotics and was still in severe pain even while on 3 ibuprofen. He switched me to a higher dose antibiotics for the next 7 days and put me on 2 vicoden every 6 hours, but its not working. i seem to be in more and more pain as the time passes by. i usually have a strong tolerance for pain (never been on anything stronger than ibuprofen before) and i am just in agony even with the vicoden. he just says i have a low tolerance for pain and that it is all normal. on a scale of 1-10, my pain is a 8-9 most of the day!!!! i have only eaten liquids for the past 5 days and i can barely open my jaw. i don't know what to do, the pain is so bad. i know there are no nerves in the tooth, but the pain is everywhere in my jaw around that area.

Root canal pain?
It sounds like a botched root canal. You shouldn't feel any pain in the tooth itself after you get one of these done. The dentist who did the root canal the first time didn't completely clean out the infected pulp material so it had a chance to go bad once again. I'm a bit surprised you had it redone because usually, dentists will pull the tooth when this happens. That's because there is a very real risk of infection spreading to other teeth and the jaw so it's usually safer to pull out the tooth. Still, you might end up having to get the tooth pulled if the problem in your jaw doesn't clear up. Good luck.
Reply:It may not necessarily be in that tooth. Since the nerves are all connected, it is difficult to pinpoint which tooth is actually infected. Your dentist, should however, be able to tell which tooth is giving you problems. I was in a similar situation, I thought my lower molar was infected, it hurt all of the time. After taking x-rays and the "touch" test, my dentist was able to tell that the pain was actually coming from my top molar. He found a cavity, drilled and filled, and voila! pain was gone. Once you've had a root canal, the nerve is gone, so if you dentist performed another root canal on the same spot on the same tooth, he just took your money. I'd recommend finding another provider, doesn't sound like you got a good dentist.
Reply:It's probably another tooth that needs a root canal. The pain will often be "referred" from one tooth to another. I've experienced that several times in the past. When it gets REALLY bad, you should be able to tell exactly where the pain is coming from.
Reply:I'm not a dentist but have had a lot of work done.


It sounds like you may have a serious infection possibly by a drug resistant strain of bacteria and it may be in the bone, not the tooth. Stay on top of it, especially since the pain is not subsiding. You have to get on top of that infection as soon as possible. Don't let your dentist put you off. Demand the attention your situation deserves. If he resists, find another dentist.


Bone infection can result in bone destruction and loss. Serious stuff! Be aggressive, your infection is.