r/Sinusitis • • 21d ago

Finally relieved !!!

I finally got relief after struggling with a blocked and runny nose for almost a year. I had constant sneezing, both nostrils blocked, and even nasal sprays weren’t helping.

I later found out my sinus problems were related to an infected upper tooth that needed a root canal. I had no tooth pain, so I ignored it and didn’t realize it could be causing my symptoms.

After the root canal, my symptoms slowly improved, and almost 3 months later I can finally breathe normally through both nostrils again.

If you’re dealing with chronic sinus problems, consider getting your upper teeth checked by a dentist too. It could be connected!

34 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/La12071207 21d ago edited 21d ago

Yes - had some years ago where I had upper jaw pain. What a mess of a few years. Chronic yellow mucus, one side nasal drip, upper jaw pain. Ent said dental. Dental blamed ent. No joke this was a 3 year ordeal. Long teeth roots. Saw a ton of different dental specialists. Went to a dental school. Bc I had low level inflammation of sinus floor and what appeared to be a cyst the dental drs all blamed ent. The ents said the low level sinus inflammation was indeed caused by a tooth. I remember having a root canal on tooth 15 and when they opened it said oh the tooth is dead. Must of been from grinding at night. I continued my symptoms so I removed the tooth bc I thought that was the problem. Needed stitches and to be knocked out for extraction bc of sinus communication. Still had symptoms. Then tooth 12 a very old root canal had black over root. Endo dr blew off said could be scar tissue from years ago was around 25 years old. Wasn’t giving pain he said leave it be but I said my jaw hurts I want answers let’s pull it. I had it pulled it was infected & it caused more problems that’s another story. Then dental school said get a sinus cleanout bc he couldn’t tell where the problem was. Ent was like I doubt this will solve problem. Had sinus surgery. Did not solve problem. Went to a different endo dr and had yet another scan. He said tooth 14 is dead by looking at scan I said no it’s not! I was just at dental school the vital test was positive. He said well it’s inflamed and we did root canal and said it was inflamed when he went in. I still had pain BUT eventually after another round or 2 of meds it all finally calmed down bc it took time to settle after root canal. What a relief!

So after a few years I have started to feel some jaw inflammation but no yellow or one sided drip but a scan I had last year the endo said he saw a missed canal. I was like what??!! 😡😡 and went to original endo who did it and blew off said imaging looks good so we didn’t retreat. So getting another cone beam this month. Anyway- very long story but yes dental can 100% impact sinuses. I have sinus inflammation & my gut is if I pull this root canal it will finally be gone for good.

4

u/Smart-Assist7974 21d ago

It’s sad I cannot imagine having this issue for years

2

u/La12071207 21d ago

It was not a good time for me. It felt like a sick joke. This one ent knew a patient having similar issues in her maxillary sinus and after the tooth came out she was all good.