I am grasping at straws. My daughter has had two salivary gland infections. Our doctor has done x-rays and CT scans and nothing has shown up to explain it. The only thing that I can think of is that she has had a root canal treatment on the lower jaw near the infections. Is it possible that the material is leaking into the gland area and causing an infection?
Missy
Dear Missy,
I am sorry your daughter has been going through this. It is always frustrating when there are seemingly unexplainable medical issues. It is always possible for a tooth infection to spread. In fact, people still die from untreated tooth infections because of how close the jaw is to our hearts, lungs, and brain. That is one of the reasons that we consider them an urgent dental issue and encourage patients to get treatment right away. However, for an infection to spread, there would have to be an active infection.
You mentioned that your doctor did not see anything on the x-rays or the CT scan. Root canal treatments can fail. One thing you can do is ask your doctor to send the x-rays to your daughter’s dentist. It could be that he doesn’t know how to read dental x-rays and is missing signs of an infection. Truthfully, that is also grasping at straws, but it couldn’t hurt. He shouldn’t charge you anything for sending the x-rays to your dentist.
I hope you find out what is happening. I am sure your daughter is tired of getting these infections.
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