January: Pete – Smelly Sinus Infection

Pete’s owner noticed he suddenly had a very snotty nose with a terrible smell. The discharge was mainly coming from one side. After an oral exam and radiographs, it was discovered that he had a sinus infection. A few years ago, he previously fractured one of his molars on the same side as the sinus infection which made it highly suspicious as the cause for the infection. However, in this case there was no tooth root involvement. In many cases of sinus infections, they are caused by a tooth root abscess which normally requires the tooth to be extracted in order to clear the infection. Luckily, for Pete there was no sign of tooth root abscess on x-ray and he responded well to antibiotics and is doing much better!