Are Decaying Teeth Indicative Of Osteomyelitis?

Posted on Mon, 4 Dec 2023

Question: After a root canal I developed a rare symptom. My gum was rutting away next to the treated tooth. It smelled and tasted like decaying flesh. Two weeks later my jaw bone was exposed as well as the treated #13 root.
Had seen three specialists, and they haven't seen anything like this before. Now, after two months some tissue is covering up my jaw bone and the root of 13. Huge pice of gum is missing.
Any idea about what happened? Is it treatable?
Thank you! Ildiko choy YYYY@YYYY

Answered by Dr. Neha Sumra (55 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Might be due to some infection

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for writing in.

As per your symptoms, you might have got some bone infection while RCT procedure. It might be osteomyelitis, which has led to such jaw bone exposure.

It can be due to bacterial infection and needs antibiotic coverage. Its just a differential diagnosis and I would be in a better position to answer if you could please send me pictures. Also send me an IOPAR X-ray, to rule out any problem with RCT treated tooth. You can attach/upload them to the reports section of this web-page only.

Awaiting...

Kind Regards
Dr. Neha Sumra

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee