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Can sinus infection be linked to a dental treatment?
Conversation started by davidlai
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I am recently recovered from a sinus surgery on the left side of my Maxillary Sinus.
It all started when I suffered acute pain on the left side of my face for almost 2 months after I had the dental fillings done on 2 of my teeth at the upper left jaw. It began with pain on the upper left jaw and I went back to the dentist. After took two days of the antibiotics prescribed by the dentist, the pain on the jaw had gone away. About a week later, I started to have fever, headache, facial pain especially on the left side. My nose become very sensitive to dust, pollen, cold wind and drinks. The left side of the nose will blocked and I will have fever the next day after I did my routine jogging (that was during the winter season). I went to GP and I took two months course of antibiotics but the pain just never go away. There were so much green-yellow color mucus discharge from my left nose, only. I can sometime taste the bitterness of the mucus at the back of my mouth and it was always stinky smell. I was then refer to a sinus specialist by my GP.
The sinus operation was needed as confirmed after ct and MRI scan were made. According to the surgeon, the sinus pain was purely due to infection and inflammation on the tissues of the left Maxillary sinus.
After the surgery 3 days ago, I am now feeling better and I am still taking the same antibiotic that I have taken for the last 3 months as prescribed by the current surgeon and previous GP.
My questions are will I fulling recovered after the surgery with not repetition of future sinus infection?
If it is purely infection, why the antibiotic (Amoxycillin875mg/clavulanate125mg and Trimethoprim160mg/sulfamethoxazole800mg) does not kill the bacteria entirely?
Is my sinus infection possible linked to the dental treatment? For your info, I had not visited a dentist for the past 3 years.
Kind regards,
Dave -
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A/Prof Daniel Novakovic
Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgeon
Dr Daniel Novakovic is an Australian Otolaryngologist (ENT Surgeon) with postgraduate international dual subspecialty fellowship training in the fields of Laryngology and Head and Neck … View Profile
Hi Dave,
As an ENT surgeon I frequently see sinusitis present as dental pain and vice versa. Often it is difficult to differentiate the source and we need to look at other presenting factors such as nasal discharge which you had. Sometimes tooth roots can project into the maxillary sinus especially the upper molars so tooth root infections can lead to sinus troubles.
In response to your questions - It is not just infection that causes chronic sinusitis. Often there are anatomical factors such as a blocked sinus outflow tract, dental infection or ongoing problems with immunity (nasal polyposis or fungal sinusitis) which predisposes to ongoing infection even after the antibiotics have done their job. In these cases treatments such as surgical ventilation of the sinus are used to better improve drainage. Some people still get sinus issues even after sinus surgery but generally things tend to improve . Your ENT surgeon should be able to advise depending upon your situation.
I hope this helps with your queries
Regards
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