Can you get a staph infection after having a root canal?

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Root canal therapy is used to prevent or to remove an existing infection, and not cause a new infection to happen.

If a root canal was done under sterile conditions, by reputed dentist or endodontist, there should be very low risks, practically none, or getting a staph infection or an infection of any kind.

Staph Infection After a Root Canal

I have a staph infection from my root canal. I have been dealing with this for two months now. I have been on 11 different courses of antibiotics, as well as IV antibiotic treatments in the hospital, to no avail. The infection has spread up my face and down my neck and is affecting both of my tonsils. No one seems to know what to do, and I am getting nervous. It's been a long, painful ordeal, with no end in sight.

Here are more answers from other FAQ Farmers:

• I got a staph infection from a root canal and almost died.

• I had a root canal about 9 months ago and now I have an infected left tonsil with a huge painful hole in it, ulcer. I am going tomorrow to get a CT scan for my severe headaches, throat pain and fevers that have been happening to me. My doctor thinks I have some type of abscess in my tonsil or in a nerve (possibly in the nerve from the root canal) as the ulcer in my tonsil is on the same side of the tooth which the root canal was done. I feel that the abscess will be from the root canal because after it was done, is when my tonsil problem started. I would just have pulled the tooth if I would have known this could happen.

• You can get a staph infection from picking your nose, so it's very possible to get a staph infection from any invasive procedure to your body, whether it be minimally invasive (root canal, laproscopy, in-grown toe nail removal) or fully invasive (C-section, open heart surgery, etc.).

• I am sure any kind of dental work promotes misery. While my toddler had pink eye and I had a sore throat, likely caused by the same bacteria, I had my teeth cleaned. Nothing compared to a root canal but it was enough to turn my tonsils, sinus and lungs into a nightmare for four months. A strep ifection, not as bad as staph but I still wonder if all this dental cleaning business is actually good for us. Maybe it is not the dental bacteria that causes heart attacks as they say but the fact that we are scraping this bacteria off and get it into the blood stream.

First answer by Brian Collins. Last edit by Cyberanto. Contributor trust: 305 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 292 [recommend question]