question for any dentists/dental nurses

[porolli]

Hi. I have had pain in the side of my head,lower jaw and ear for a few months. I went to my dentist three months ago who said teeth were fine but might be wisdom teeth. they took x rays.I was away from home last week and suffered such excrutiating pain that I had to visit an emergency dentist, who said I had an abscess and gave me antibiotics and said it was nothing to do with wisdom teeth. Yesterday I had my wisdom tooth appt at the local hospital - they said they were fine but I had to have root canal/extraction on the tender tooth. today i went back to my dentist, told the whole sorry tale, they took yet more xrays (now been xrayed three times in a week) and they said they couldn't see the need for root canal. there is a big filling in the tooth, which they suggested taking out and replacing temporarily to see if that solved tenderness.
so my question is, is it at all feasible that an abscess can clear up (with antibiotics) and then not need any other treatment afterwards? i thought it was inevitable from what others have said that i would now need further treatment. whilst i'm a huge wuss about the dentist, and would never seek out root canal, i don't now want things to get worse.
Thank you if you've got this far!

I suffered similar pain to yours porolli - my dentist kept saying there was nothing wrong with my tooth (last one at the back - bottom row - no wisdom teeth as they were all extracted years before) & even filled the one next to it in case that was the source of the pain. When I told him I couldn't stand it any more & would like the tooth removed, he did it reluctantly. When he looked at it, he found a hairline crack which had been hidden as it was next to the tooth he filled & the crack hadn't shown up on any x-rays. The relief from pain was incredible & I'd recommend you keep on at your dentist until he/she does something about it.

Okay, not a dentist but was married to one for several years and heard a few stories about teeth

It sounds like the emergency dentist was right. With an abcess you first need to clear up the infection and then quite typically do a root canal. I would find another regular dentist.

thanks for your replies.
I know in my heart that I need to keep going. it's just so tempting to believe that could be it. but i suppose the abscess had to come from somewhere and I don't understand the basis on which they are saying there's no problem...

my other problem is that i am allergic to latex and they suggested there may be a problem with doing a root canal because of 'rubber stoppers'. anyone got pearls of wisdom on that one and whether latex allergic people ever have root canal treatment?!

Not a dentist, just a customer. But had an abcess and got it cleared up with antibiotics and never had any problems since. Not convinced that a root canal is always needed, Remember a root filled tooth is dead and therefore needs a crown and is no longer 'your tooth'. I think sometimes infections can just clear up, Also the cynic in me says that dentists get paid a lot for root canals and I do wonder of they do them when they are not always necessary,