Hello, I had a retreat on a root canal and after five days my gum feels very tender and slightly swollen, my dentist prescribed Methylprednisolone, but after reading the side effects of one saying this medication may cause you to be unable to fight an infection, I am worried about taking this medication.  Is this a good drug to take for an infected tooth/gum?
Hi. Welcome to Chat Doctor. As per your complaint as you have a re-treatment Root canal on your tooth and even after that you have tenderness and swelling over the gum then it means that you still have infection in the tooth that might be lingering or there is a recurring infection. In this case although methylprednisolone that is a steroid can help in reducing swelling, but it will not fight with the infection and will cause recurring flaring up on infection. I would suggest you to consult your dentist or an Endodontist and get evaluated and a course of antibiotics and a combination of anti-inflammatory painkiller and serratiopeptidase will help in reducing infection and swelling. But in case if still there are repeated flaring up of infection then extraction of tooth is the only option. Hope this helps. Regards.