Tooth Infection leads to face numbness on left side of face along with left eye...?

My mother is experiencing a toothache, that is causing severe, intense migrains. We went to the E.R. %26amp; took 2 MRI's %26amp; alot of x-rays. The toothache was found to be a tooth infection that was caused by a root canal post that is turned sideways from dental work that was performed 7 years ago. The tooth is tooth # 12. The Post is turned sideways presumingly by neglect to treatment. The doctor appointed us to a Surgical dentist that wants to perform emergency surgery. My mother says her left legs %26amp; her back, is really starting to bother her. Can the infection be spreading?


Since they want to perform surgery to remove the post, they want to give her novacaine to relieve the pain before surgery. BUT wont novacaine affect the brain from the nerve that he will inject it into?


Understand that the main issue is facial numbness %26amp; that it is still an undiagnosed issue assumed to be a problem with the nerve that affects the face. she is leery the novacaine will affect the nerve %26amp; lead to the brain.

Tooth Infection leads to face numbness on left side of face along with left eye...?
I'm glad that you "found" the problem.





Just to clarify: having local anesthesia "novocaine" will not affect her brain. It's called local because it stays where it is put. It does NOT go into the blood stream, etc. Nerves do not conduct medication throughout the body, blood does. This is why some medications are given via IV (intravenous- into the vein)- because it needs to go everywhere in the body.
Reply:My husband that something like this but not quite as severe as she is having.


My suggestion is to have her in there to have it removed right away. If it is giving pain that's spreading, then you can bet the Infection itself is Definately spreading and any infection can be spread all over the system wherever by the circulatory system etc.


I understand there is worry about the novacaine affecting things, but it will only give numbness so they can do the surgery.


I would worry less about the novacaine and worry more that your mother will be treated right away.


Don't wait on this cause of worry on something most would consider minor.


This could lead to worse things for her and you don't want to loose her, believe me. My mom passed away a couple of years ago and I can tell you it's hard still sometimes.


Be glad you have her and urge her to not worry too much, they will consider all those things when they treat her, then she'll be feeling so much better.
Reply:She needs to get the tooth out ASAP. If the infection is causing her to have facial numbness, it's definitely spreading throughout her body.





"Normal" infections in the mouth travel through the body and can cause serious medical prole ms. Especially w/ the heart.





The "Novocaine" is actually lidocaine and has very few side effects. It is necessary to perform any extraction.





Typically though, facial numbness is from the facial nerve (#7). Check w/ the dentist. This infection is probably due to the infection, but there may be something else that's going on.
Reply:I think you may have the information a little mixed up. Tooth #12 is a first bicuspid, a post can't be placed "sideways" it will only fit straight into a canal. It is possible that the tooth, after 7 years, has re-abscessed causing your mothers problems at hand right now which is probably due to decay. So I wouldn't start screaming "malpractice" after this much time. If the post appears to be "sideways," my thoughts would be that there was enough decay that had literally traveled down the root of the tooth exposing the canal that held the post. The post that was cemented into this canal was then exposed to decay, which may have loosened the post, thus causing it to appear sideways, and the decay caused an abscess to develop.





My concern wouldn't be who to point a finger at just now; it would be to care for your mother in this fragile state. I think you should trust the surgeon to make what ever decision is necessary for your mother’s treatment. They will be extracting the tooth, tissue and some bone to remove the majority of the infection. What ever anesthetic the doctor’s use it will be one with your mother’s health interest foremost. The facial numbness may mainly be associated with the swelling from this infection. You need to keep in mind that infections of this proportion can be life threatening. Your mother’s situation is extremely dangerous. I would strongly recommend that you allow the doctors to make the necessary decisions since they are highly trained and know what anesthetics, medication and treatment is necessary for your mothers well being, much better than you.





The oral surgeon will make his decision based on your mother’s condition. If she needs anesthetic to ease the pain and for the procedure, I'm sure they will administer it, although it may be of no use with so much infection present. The anesthetic won't be "Novocain," since it hasn't been used in many years due to patient’s adverse reactions to it.





I think the "neglect" the doctor was referring to, is dental neglect caused by your mother’s poor dental hygiene which has caused the rampant decay that has led to this current condition.





The surgeon who wants to do emergency surgery....when? Usually emergency surgery means “Now” not tomorrow. I also doubt seriously, as I said earlier, that they will be removing "just the post" I’m sure the tooth and much of the surrounding tissue and bone will also need to be removed to clean out as much of the infection as possible.





Please, spend more time comforting your mother and let the doctors do their job without having you trying to second guess their decisions or recommendations. Good luck to you both.








Additional info: I am so glad that you've found out what is causing this problem and understand the reasons why this dental condition exists now. Hopefully there won't be any serious permanent damage with the TN after the removal of the tooth. There is always a possibility that the removal will take care of the problem, I will be praying for this for your mother. Good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Reply:I had a partial root canal with a crown for the tooth and infection spread to my jaw line. The right side of my face blew up go large I looked like I had a soft ball in my mouth.





I could not eat or move my jaw to yawn and I could barely talk.


I was starting to get headaches and sometimes I felt nauseated.





The doctor gave me novaciain to remove the tooth and the post, as soon as the tooth came out, the puss from the infection just started to seep from the hole.





He did say that the infection can get into the bloodstream and cause damage throughout the body, if it was not attended to right away. This is what I am thinking of your mom.





I am not sure why you would think novacain would hurt her the dentist would know about that, but I doubt if it would hurt in any way.





After my tooth was pulled he gave me antibiotics and pain killers. It took almost a month for everything to get back to normal but I am assuming if you mom gets the surgery everything will turn out alright.





I will keep her in my thoughts and hope she gets better soon.





I am sure you love and kindness is keeping her in good spirits just knowing how much you care for her. good luck
Reply:sounds like your mum needs emergency treatment can your doctor not help with this, get her to the hospital and get rid of the tooth.
Reply:That was going to be my first guess was that it was a subsequent nerve issue. Is an infection a problem of course. But based on the symptoms it sounds like nerve damage. Nerves once damaged are almost impossible to heal due to the fibromyalgia coating on the nerves. Nerves themselves generally have no blood supply as a reseult and without a blood supply there is no way for the body to heal it. In addition though the sheath does help insulate the nerve to trauma which is why it is there. Now the nerve that supplies sensation to that tooth is the median branch of the trigeminal nerve. This nerve is the fifth cranial nerve which inervates the face head and neck. It is responsible for all feeling in the scalp, teeth, tongue, ear, eye, face, and neck. Any damage to this nerve can travel up the nerve to effect the other branches causing pain, discomfort, numbness, or tingling in the other branches.


Novacaine will not be a problem. All it will due is stop the transmission of pain from one nerve to another and subsequently stop the feeling of pain from reaching the brain. If that is the case the first thing you need to do is remove the irritant (fix the tooth). If you have a rock in your shoe and you get a sore foot you have to take the rock out before you treat the foot. From there the sensitivity may decrease or even go away. If it doesn't you may have to go back to the neurologist.


This is why you pay attention to your teeth. Your body is one cohesive unit. If something goes wrong in one part it will effect other parts.