Dental Problems again!

[scoobydooby]

Had throbbing on my mouth, accompanied by a little pain last weekend. I'd had an abscess before so I thought I knew what was coming. Went to see my dentist (twice) during the week who took xrays and could find nothing wrong. He prescribed some antibiotics (on a just in case basis) which I started taking at lunchtime on Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon I was in agony, knew for definite it was an abscess and could pinpoint the actual tooth itself (even though it had been xrayed). Didn't go back to the dentist as I knew I needed the pills to 'kick in'. It's now Saturday and, although I'm not in constant pain, I can 'feel' the area. Am really quite ill with this, slept all day yesterday, feel sick whenever I eat (which I have to do to take the pills) and I'm sweating profusely (very embarrassing) But......what happens now? Will the anti's clear up any infection and, if so, what then? How can my dentist prevent this happening again when he can't find anything wrong?

Does anyone have any advice for me? What can I politely demand be done? If I ask for the tooth to be extracted, could it be the wrong one? Presumably an abscess can occur above a tooth, through cavities in another??? I have no cavaties (according to the xray) but my gums receed a little. Could that have caused the infection? I know root canal treatment is usually given but, again, what if it's the wrong tooth?

[raysparx]

Hi scooby,

Why don't you phone the out of hours service at your dentist ?, they can drill a hole in the tooth and then put an anti-biotic into the root, if it is quite bad though it may mean the tooth being taken out and a crown fitted,the normal anti-biotics they prescribe normallly kick in within about 24 hours,if it is a 5 or 7 day course, root canal is not very nice,but they don't often get the wrong tooth,give them a ring now, you could try to put some bonjella or similar remedy on to relieve pain a bit,hope it feels better soon, Ray

[Joflump]

You poor thing! I am wondering that if your dentist has ruled out an abcess relating to a tooth whether it maybe an infection in the gum in which case it may mean that the antibiotics you were prescribed are not the right ones. I have worked in dentistry for many years and we use different antibiotics to treat abcesses depending on where they are. eg; penicillin/amoxycillin if it's tooth related or metronidazole if it's a periodontal (gum) infection. Having said that, with any dental infection it can get worse before it gets better even if you have been taking antibiotics for a couple of days. If you are feeling unwell it is important to contact your dentist out of hours for advice. That's what they are there for! Hope you feel better soon. X