Dentist help! I had a root canal recently & infection is still in there...?!

Dentist help! I had a root canal recently & infection is still in there...?

my reg dentist put me on steriods & antibiotics to see if we can clear it up. The 2 part root canal is finished except for the crown. Should the specialist not seen this before he finished the 2nd part?? After the first part he did an x-ray to check for whatever they check for, but my non specialist dentist said he can clearly see the infection on the x-ray he took. Did the specialist not see this too? I have heard that after the root canal is finished there it is closed off in there and no bacteria can get in INCLUDING the antibiotics and pro-biotics I am taking. Any suggestions? Also after the 1st part of the procedure the specialist said it was so infected he put me on steriods and antibiotics too but it obviously didn't clear it all up. Is it normal to finish the 2nd part while there is still present infection?

When either dentist is looking at an Xray they cant see infection. They can only see signs from the destruction the infection has caused. When a tooth first gets infected it is not visible radiographically. The bone has to be destroyed first before any difference can be seen on an Xray. Thats what Xrays do, they measure differences in density. How could the infection show that with out destroying bone at the fistula site? What ever one of them saw on the Xray the other saw as well. I should know because I am a dentist that cant sleep right now so here I am answering this question. About the finishing the 2nd part with infection present; that is a judgement call made differently by each dentist. I personally will finish many root canals in one appointment, ifected or not. If the infection does not immediatly dissapate, I will use antibiotics to finish it off. Most of the time when the nerve is taken out and the hole it used to sit in is now filled with gutta percha, that makes the infection go away because its original souce is gone (if all of the nerve was gotten out) Not getting all of the nerve is probly the main reason that root canals fail if the do fail. Lastly, what you heard about the antibiotic not being able to reach the area once it is closed is comical. The anitbiotic comes in through your system, not directly from the mouth. The reason that it is closed off is to seperate it from the normal everyday bugs that are in the mouth, not the whole system. I am stumped on what pro-biotics are though. Do tell if you know.
Hope this helped.
Drbrian