Taking Aspirin

[Booldawg]

I've got toothache. i had an emergency filling put in back in November but was told I need root canal treatment. The filling has run its course and I've now ended up with toothache which sometimes speads right up to my temple :-( As the treatment will have to wait until end of the month, whats the score on taking aspirin until then? As it get worse in the evening I only tend to take them then.

[ojread2]

Do you take any other medicine at all?

Personally I would take ibuprofen and parcetamol together. You can take 1600mg of ibuprofen in any 24 hour period and of course, paracetamiol 4 hourly at 1000mg (2 tabs)

HTH oj x

[ojread2]

If you decide on Aspirin, go for the enteric coated ones as they are kinder to your tummy but speak to your pharmacist

[Booldawg]

No, I dont take anything else -apart from alcohol ;-) I was just worrying about the long term effects of taking any pain killer. I'm not sure which one if most effective for toothache. Clove Oil is a disgusting tasting waste of time!

[Goodsoulette]

Try dentinox teething gel, it contains lidocaine and can be applied frequently. Not sure what sort of things they supply for adults but worked on an abcess I had years back.

Can you not find an NHS dentist, its 43.60 for root canal treatment.

[ojread2]

I'm with you on clove oil! Yack!

OK, as long as you take them at the intervals stated on the box you will be fine. Make sure you take the ibuprofen with food. Something simple like a banana will do. You shouldn't take them on an empty stomach

You will be OK to take them until the end of January, no probs

[baileybird]

had same problem a few months ago and i REALLY feel for you.
Spent a week pi22ed up as it was the only way i could survive.
suprised i didnt go into organ failure with all the tablets i took
ring the dentist and see if he can prescribe a strong painkiller for the month
alternatively ask to be put on their cancellation list - you may get earlier appt.
i ended up having tooth out. good luck, you poor old devil x

[Booldawg]

Thanks for all the kind words of support LOL I guess at 39 I'm lucky to have escaped trouble with my teeth until now. I am registered as an NHS patient but my dentist left mid November and the replacement doesnt start until end of Jan. They did offer to fit me in with another dentist but the toothache wasnt as 'heaving' as it is now. I may phone back on Monday and get it done.

Strange how the bad tooth is a top left molar but all the teeth on the bottom jaw hurt, including my left eye and temple.

[foodluva]

Booldawg,

I agree with the first guy. Ibuprofen and paracetamol can be combined safely as long as you remain within the limits quoted on the packet. This combination gives good pain relief and is commonly administered to ward patients needing an extra kick! (I'm a nurse!!!!)

[Booldawg]

I tried gargling vodka around the tooth, a waste of smirnoff really. After googling a bit I found the best and cheapest remedy to be salt water. It only gives about 20 minutes of respite but well worth it.

[MrXLA]

Gargling with vodka around a tooth (which sounds as though it may have periapical infection) achieves 2 things:
1) wastes vodka
2) increases your chances of oral cancer
- it will not have any effect on your toothache
- ibuprofen and paracetamol will (especially when taken together), overdosing will not increase there efficacy they will just cause liver damage
- if root canal treatment is required its worth noting a few things (which your dentist will prob discuss anyway)
1) Cost , it will cost you �43.60 for the root treatment, however teeth (especially molars) that are broken down/heavily filled often require crowns/cast restorations on the NHS that would be �194
2) Root canal treatment is not always succesful and even when it is, the tooth will be more brittle afterwards and will not last forever, however they can last a long time

[ojread2]

Paracetamol and ibuprofen taken together in the proper doses is not overdosing - it combines to make them a much more effective pain relief for toothache

Unless I read your post incorrectly, you seem to be suggesting that both myself and foodluva seem to be advocating an overdose, which of course we are not

Booldawg, You could even have an abcess there in your tooth so I would see a dentists ASAP as you will need anit b's for that

ojx

[Whickerman]

Booldawg - do NOT take aspirin for toothache if you're planning on getting treatment. It thins the blood and makes it much more difficult for the treatment to heal, according to my GP (had that a few months back).

Go with the nurofen (ibuprofen) option, really works better than aspirin too.

Also - you have my sympathy - I'd rather have pins stuck in me than a toothache.

[ermintrude35]

.... if I were you i'd just ask for t to be taken out asap...I could not stand toothache on that scale for a month ( 2 weks is all I could muster and I was climbing the walls).... extraction is cheaper and a lot less hassle.... all in all you will only get more trouble from the tooth in the next couple of years, and seeing as it's a molar at the back it's not as if it's cosmetic....

[Goodsoulette]

Noooooo....if you can save a tooth, save it. Extraction cam make the teeth next to it less stable and you could lose them all in a domino effect.

[MrXLA]

Hi ojread2 I'm very well aware that taking both paracetamol and ibuprofen together improves their efficacy in controlling pain of odontogenic origin due to a synergistic effect. I was merely advising against overdose as unfortunately a large percentage of the population believe that increasing the dose increases the action, clearly not so.

[MrXLA]

Goodsoulette extraction of a molar tooth does not result in a 'domino effect' causing the loss of other teeth.
People often have this perception however if you think logically, if your diet, oral hygiene regimen or unfortunate trauma has led to the compromise or loss of one tooth its fairly easy to appreciate that the same fate may befall other teeth often adjacent to each other. That said the remaining teeth will have to cope with more force exerted on them but there is a negligible change when one molar is lost and the others are present and sound.

[MrXLA]

If I required a root filling I would have it carried out by a specialist endodontist in order increase the chance of success. That said I appreciate that it will cost a great deal more and most likely take longer. i would also except that even in the hands of a specialist a successful outcome is not guaranteed and that ultimately I may loose the tooth.
The only guarantee that a dentist or endodontist can honestly give after root treatment even if successful is that ultimately one day the root filling will fail.

[Booldawg]

The happy ending to the story is that I had the bu66er taken out. Not an easy extraction (one of the roots was barb shaped and acted like a fish hook) but came out in the end. The dentist also discovered a wisdom tooth behind it that may break through now it has the room :-(

[ojread2]

I was merely advising against overdose

still don't understand exactrly what you're saying here - overdose how what when and where? You don;t even mention quantities ........... anyway


Glad you are now pain free Booldawg :)