OT Dental abscess!!

[claire43]

This has nothing to do with emet but Ive been on a couple of other (medical) sites but havent had much help.

Christmas night I developed a dental abscess. My left jaw area is swollen, Im in AGONY, its causing the gland in my neck to hurt and giving me earache and a headache!! Im downing painkillers like they are sweets but they are only easing the worst of the pain and not making it go away. Being the holidays I cant go to my usual dentist for at least another week and Im in serious pain.

Any tips or advice on what I can do at home to ease the pain in the meantime please?

[cinque]

You will likely need antibiotics before you can have any work done on the problematic tooth. I am sure a doctor could prescribe those rather than a dentist...it is an emergency (not in the sense that it's life-threatening, just in the way that tonsillitis and so forth get emergency GP appointments). I think you should 'phone your doctor's surgery! Don't just suffer in silence! You could also contact NHS Direct because they keep records of emergency dentists and can also give advice on acute dental situations like this one. I know the service is currently very overloaded but hopefully the situation is a bit better than it was the other day. Pharmacists can often be very knowledgeable too, so you could ask at your local chemist's. I really hope you feel better soon because this sounds miserable. Antibiotics lead to a fairly rapid improvement, I think xxx

[SteveR]

Try taking twice the normal dose of ibuprofen. When I had my wisdom teeth out, the doctor told me to take 4x the normal dose of ibuprofen (in place of one of the stronger painkillers that I didn't react well too)

[cinque]

Best to double-check with a pharmacist or doctor before doing that I would think

[claire43]

Im already taking more painkillers than I should. Im taking co-codamol and paracetamol. I think I'll have to ring nhs direct later on today and see if there is an emergency dental service where I can go to get antibiotics. Its gone 5am now and I cant sleep Im in so much pain.

[emmalinda]

im sorry hunny but i think the best thing to do is contact an "emergency" dentist. in the phone book some dentist put their mobile number and they will come in for you and fix it. is it sensitive to hot and cold or just one or the other?

[crd08]

Ah, I am so sorry! I know the pain you are in and it's awful. Do you have a hot water bottle? I used one and it seemed to give some relief.
My cousin is a dentist so luckily he could hook me up with some stuff until I could actually go see him.

[abbu]

I feel your pain - I've had two of these nasty buggers in as many years. You do need to get to an emergency dentist or your doctors surgery for some antibiotics. If you don't take anything for the infection, it will rapidly get worse. Get yourself seen by somebody, or call NHS Direct. For the pain I used Codeine for the first abscess, and Ibuprofen for the second. Both worked pretty well!

[claire43]

Thanks everyone

I had to travel to the next town but I went to an emergency dental practice and she did some root canal work on my tooth and gave me a weeks course of antibiotics. Ive got to say Ive never been so glad to have the numbing injection in my life - no pain for a couple of hours!! Its wearing off now so Im back on the painkillers (not that they are much use) and hopefully the antibiotics will kick in over the next 24-48 hours and I'll be feeling more human.

[ButterfliesInHerEyes]

Because of extensive dental problems complicated by emetophobia, I have had MANY tooth absesses over the years. You most likely do need antibiotics so definitely see a dentist or even your GP. What I used to do when my emetophobia just wouldn't allow me to either a) go to a dentist/doctor or b) take an antibiotic for fear of nausea/vomiting, I would try to "pop" the abscess myself by squeezing hard on the swollen area of the gum. Gross liquid stuff would drain out and the swelling would then go away. I would also rinse with a warm salt-water solution regularly.

[asianeko]

I'm glad it's feeling better for you! If it happens again, Oil of Cloves works wonders. It smells horrid, but numbs you good.

[StaceySGMW]

I used to neglect my teeth when I were little, and my word I've paid for it. I have zero teeth on the lower left side of my mouth. I HATE dentists. I've practically killed the nerves in my mouth, I'd rather have toothache than get a tooth pulled.

What did help for me, just temporarily. 2 ibuprofen with 2 paracetamol, followed by a dab of Clove Oil/Bonjela!

[emmalinda]

cloves are very good at numbing the gum, but i found they taste a bit yuck. good luck getting rid of the infection! it will take a couple more appointments

[Julia31]

Advil works wonders to bring the swelling down and you can also take it with Tylenol.