Gauze packing following root canal

YSI

Joined
May 11, 2022
Messages
11
I left with a wad of gauze in my mouth and a little baggie of more gauze. 30 min later it was soaking wet drenched in clear fluid with a little bit of diluted blood in one spot. I repacked twice more and stopped when the diluted blood now looked like dark clotted blood. Was all of that clear fluid the drainage from the tremendous amount of swelling/infection I had going in, or just fresh saliva? Swelling has dramatically decreased closer to the teeth. More concerning though there is still a small firmer lump under the skin higher above the teeth between the cheekbone and nostril-I can understand clear fluid resorbs but doesn't this firmer lump indicate pus? Will that resorb?
 

Dr M

Verified Dentist
Joined
May 31, 2019
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Good day

It sounds like you had a massive abscess associated with the relevant tooth. Sometimes the drainage can continue for quite a while. If you had a bump closer to the tooth, it might disappear over time. Sometimes it only " resorbs" fully once the root canal has been completed.
Did the dentist prescribe you any medication, between now and the next visit? Often with the first step of a root canal, we often rinse out the inside of the canal and then place a medicament inside, that will help to clear up any infection, as well as a short course of antibiotics.
 

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YSI

Joined
May 11, 2022
Messages
11
The dontist called me 2days later to see how I was doing which is when I was able to ask the questions I would have asked before if I had been informed of plan details (and choices.) LOL hard to ask for more specifics when your mouth is already pinned open. I am not sure english was his first language so there is that, too.

I wanted the filling fully removed before the root canal and washout began but he now told me he drilled a tiny microscopic hole down thru the top of the filling, then suctioned out the nerve mush, and then whatever solution was injected thru the hole, and then he put a plug of sorts over or into the hole. No post-cleanout beyond 'salt water.' No discharge instructions either.

He seemed to drill forever which I why I thought he had removed and refilled. It explains why this root canal is so different from what the oral surgeon did 40yrs ago.

My dentist though imo should have done a medicated washout as a matter of routine (and maybe did?) when she simply redid the filling and told me it didn't look good a month earlier.

My rtn appt with the dontist is mid August, 11 mos from when I first called for a dentist appt. Meanwhile I am brushing, gargleing, swishing, flossing, but no post-medication. The lump between my cheekbone and nostril seems to cycle-larger late afternoon and much improved in the morning.

Random question-A year ago I had switched to a highly waxed floss because my teeth are so tight together. I noticed the floss continually left little wax 'crumbs' between my teeth-would those become a route to infection?
 

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