Has anyone had a bone infection in the jaw?

[OnionPatch]

For two years my sinuses have been acting up, always stuffy and clogged, always getting infections but only on the right side. At the same time I had a tooth that was bothering me, number 5. (Right side.) X-rays and exams found nothing wrong with the tooth (although it had had a root canal a decade ago or so.) Finally it hurt so bad I told the dentist to just pull it and it turned out there had been a big crack in it that the xray didn't find. I asked how he knew it didn't crack when he pulled it and he said because the margins of the crack were "eaten" away. Some of the bone around the crack was also eaten away. He filled the socket with cadaver bone graft material, sewed it up, and sent me on my way. The pain was excruciating for a few weeks but he said that was ok. The pain never went away. It's been a year now and I feel like I still have a tooth there aching all the time. During this time I've seen ENTs about what they thought was a separate sinus problem but I always believed it was related. My nasal passages are always swollen on that side and my sinuses are constantly draining only on that side, in fact, I can almost feel the irritated place where the snot is forming, and it's right in the same area as the tooth/gum pain.

Finally I saw an ENT who referred me to a maxillofacial surgeon. The ENT said I probably had a bone infection in the extraction area. I've been reading up on this and feel certain this is the case. I've been feeling like complete crap for two years now and I did notice I would start to feel better when they treated the sinus infections with antibiotics but eventually I'd start feeling crappy again afterwards. I heard you have to take a ton of antibiotics for a bone infection. For weeks, maybe months! My appointment with the maxillofacial surgeon isn't until two weeks from now. (I've already waited two weeks, so it will be four total weeks wait time, although they know I'm in pain. There's your "waiting list" and geez.....it's not "socialized medicine", its a PPO.)

So anyone have any experience with this? Won't all those antibiotics destroy your digestive system? How did you handle it? I already have a sensitive stomach and digestive system. And also, could a long term infection like this exacerbate arthritis? I swear I've developed a lot of pain while this has been going on but maybe that's because I never feel good enough to exercise anymore. (Try exercising with a tooth ache.) I'd love to hear from anyone who has been through this type of thing.

[Warpy]

1. Bone infections are extremely hard to treat

so yes, you will likely be on antibiotics for some time. Eat yogurt with live cultures and you'll escape some of the GI hell that can ensue. Read the label to find out what is real yogurt with live cultures vs. just thickened milk.

This kind of thing can migrate and kill you so you'll want to get rid of it. Antibiotics are your best shot so take them as directed and keep taking them.

Also, call the doc you've already seen and explain that you can't get in to see the maxillofacial guy and that you need some pain control. He should be willing to prescribe a couple of weeks' worth of a mild narcotic to get you through.

Oral pain is the absolute worst. Good luck for a fast resolution. Just take all of those antibiotics or you'll end up with rebound infection that is resistant to drugs.

[OnionPatch]

2. Thanks. Good thing I like yogurt.

Even if it's hard to treat, I'm glad they're onto something finally. It's been a year of dentists and ENTs telling me that they see nothing wrong. No one even mentioned that there could be this thing called a "bone infection". You'd think a dentist would know about that. :shrug: They acted like if they couldn't see something very obvious on the x-ray, there must be nothing wrong. Now I find out that dental bone infections are actually not that uncommon after a tooth extraction and that they are hard to spot on an x-ray.

Well, thanks, Warpy. I'll take your advice and hang in there with the antibiotics. If I made it through the last two years, I can make it through a long course of antibiotics if there is light at the end of the tunnel. I do have some Vicoden that I can take if it gets really bad before the appointment. If I run out, I'll call for some more.

[mopinko]

3. have you taken fosamax-type drugs?

curious. there have been reports of this, and a recent lawsuit that the drug maker won, iirc.

[OnionPatch]

4. No. I've always been suspicious of them.

I had heard of this connection before.

[mopinko]

5. interesting.

just fyi, i take them. i have a strong family history, and watched my mother's awful, awful decline.
my sister had a fracture from a very small fall, got an infection, and spent a year on antibiotics. so, i wonder about the cause/effect relationship of the whole thing.

[OnionPatch]

6. My mother has osteoporosis, too.

She was even starting to get the back hump a little. She took fosmax for awhile but then heard it could put you at risk of stroke. Stroke runs in our family big time, so I guess you have to weigh the options for your own personal situation. She didn't want take that risk. She was doing some natural treatment for the osteoporosis and told me her last scan showed some bone density increase, so whatever it was, it must have helped.

Sorry about your mom and sister. Was your sister's infection a bone infection? That is interesting, hmmmm.

[mopinko]

7. yes, the fracture got infected.

she was hospitalized briefly and had iv antibiotics for several weeks. it was a bitch.