I would agree: you should see an endodontist, who is a root canal
specialist.  Infections can last longer that we'd like, and it's possible
that is what you have.  It's impossible to really give you any advice
without examining you and knowing your age and health history, but a
specialist should be able to see what's what.  I would tell your dentist you
are doing this and request a copy of all the x-rays he's taken, so that the
endodontist can see how things have progressed and see how that compares
with the current situation.  Be assured that eventually most all infections
do resolve.  Good luck!

About 4 months ago I began the root canal process.  I was put on an
antibiotic on Friday afternoon and was drilled on Monday morning.  Is this
enough time to allow the infection to go away?  I questioned them and they
said the antibiotics would start to work immediately.  Anyway, he placed
temporary fillings in 2 teeth that were right next to each other - upper left
bicuspid and a molar.  I was told that I would have some pain for a couple of
days.  I was told to continue my antibiotic and was also put on Ibuprofen
800mg for pain.  My appointment for the rest of the root canal was scheduled
to be done in two weeks.  The pain did not go away in a couple of days.  I
was scheduled to go to New York the weekend before my next appointment to
finish the root canal.  I called the dentist's office and told them that it
had been a week and a half and I was still experiencing pain, that I was to
go to NYC that weekend, and I did not want to have any problems with my teeth
at that time.  I was then told that sometimes the pain would last as long as
two weeks.  I went on my trip and was miserable!  The pain would really flare
up when I rode the subway ( I am guessing that it was due to all the jostling)
.

I went to have the root canal done on that Wednesday after my trip.  I told
him that I was still having pain.  He shot me up about three times with
novacaine and waited til he thought I was numb.  He began to place the rubber
dam over my teeth.  I stopped him and told him that I could really feel that.
He shot me up a couple of more times.  Shouldn't  the pain associated with
just the placement of the rubber dam have tipped him off that maybe something
wasn't right?  He began drilling and I could feel a little pain, which was
bearable, and a lot of pressure.  I just assumed that this was normal.  Then
he irrigated the tooth.  When he did this, I could feel cold, bleachy tasting
liquid go up into my cheek and swish around all the way up to my eye.  Again,
I thought this was normal or maybe just a sensation from the novacaine.
After the procedure was finished, he refilled my antibiotic and wrote me an
Rx for Vicodan.

My face was a little puffy that night, but just assumed that it was normal
due to the trauma of what had been done.  The next day it was still puffy.
However, on Friday morning it was very swollen.  I didn't call the dentist, I
just stopped in, unannounced, and asked if this was normal.  He took one look
at me and said, "Oh, my!"  He then wrote me another Rx for a different
antibiotic and told me to take it conjunction with the one I was already
taking and told me to stop in on Monday morning.  Saturday morning when I
woke, my face was swollen all the way up to and around my eye.  When I bent
over to pick up some dirty clothes a bunch of rusty colored liquid came
running out of my nose.  I spent the rest of the day with my head hanging
over the edge of the bed trying to drain all that crap out of my face.  I
felt a little better the next day and the swelling had gone down some.  When
I got to his office on Monday, I told he what had happened and told him that
I was concerned about having infection spread to my brain.  He didn't look
all that concerned.  He put me on a Medrol Dose Pack (oral steriod) to take
with my antibiotics.  

I went back to see him every Friday for the next month.  He took an x-ray
each time I said that I was still experiencing pain.  All he ever said was,
"The x-rays look okay."  He would occassionally change my antibiotic.  On one
of my Friday visits he told me that the problem was that the roots of my
molar had grown into my sinuses.  Couldn't he see this on the very first x-
ray he took before any work was performed?  On my last visit to him he told
me that he needed to cap the teeth as I "was compromising the integrity of my
teeth."  I told him that I was reluctant to have any more work done at this
time due to all the pain that I was having.  He told me to make an
appointment to come in in two weeks to have the work finished.  I went to the
receptionist and told her that he wanted me back in two weeks, but to
schedule it for four weeks to allow the pain to go away.  They always want at
least half of the payment up front, which in this case was $840, and I didn't
have it and that I would be able to come up with the money in a month as
opposed to two weeks.

After two weeks after my last visit to the dentist, my pain still had not
subsided and I went to a medical doctor.  I told him that I was experiencing
dizziness, light-headedness, loss of balance, loss of concentration, itchy
rash that would turn into pustuales (pimple like), burning sensation behind
my left eye, tingling in my left cheek that would radiate up and around my
head, pain under my cheek bone, and that I suspected that I may have
something systemic because I did not feel right.  He ordered blood work and a
CAT scan of my sinuses.  Both came back negative and I was told to see a
specialist.

I went a couple of weeks ago to see an ENT.  He basically laughed at me since
nothing showed up on my CAT scan.  He told me the pain was coming from my
tooth.  I asked how that could be when the roots are supposedly dead.  He
said that wasn't a dentist.  He said that the CAT scan did show that I have a
deviated septum and a prominent nasal spur and the spur could cause headaches.
I told him that I guess that I have always had that spur and I had very
rarely experienced headaches.  He told me that I should go back to the
dentist and have him cap my teeth.

I am at a loss as to what to do next.  No one seems concerned about my
symptoms and I am beginning to get more than a little worried.  I believe
that he filled my teeth with gutta-percha, which I have recently discovered
contains approximately 5% mercury.  Could I have mercury poisoning?  I have
also learned that oxygen deprived bacteria continue to live inside that tooth
and can leach out making you sick.  Why doen't dentists recognize this even
with documentation?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.  I don't like the fact that my
dentist wanted to continue the root cnal work even though I insisted that I
was still in pain.