Tooth abcess!

Drake5 · 27 Feb 2011 at 13:05

First off I'm not after medical advice, will make an appointment with my dentist first thing tomorrow!

After a couple of days of crippling toothache on a tooth I had a filling on, it looks like the tooth has finally decided to form an abcess. My lip is swole and it feels like I've got a tennis ball under my lip!

Anyone else here had one of these nasty abcesses before? I think toothache probabaly has to be the most intense pain ever...

Drake5 · 27 Feb 2011 at 15:24

Glad I'm not the only one that's had to suffer this pain lol!

It's not guarenteed that I'll be able to see my dentist tomorrow, could be a few days but I'm not sure I'd feel very confident on popping it.

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 13:18

Just got back from the dentist, not all great news. There is a small infection in the tooth, the only option would be extraction or root canal as it had a filling before.

I didn't want a root canal or an extraction so the dentist said to go back in 6 months and see how it is... If the pain gets worse I may have to go back sooner, she said to get the swelling down swill with salt water as the infection wasn't big enough to prescribe antibiotics for.

The joy of teeth...

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 13:22

Sp00n said:
I'd avoid the root canal if possible, if you think the pain in your tooth is bad now

I know I've heard so many horror stories.

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 13:52

soundb0y said:
Yup had one last week on a wisdom tooth. Hurt like hell for about 4 day. Was on antibiotics until it went down.

Didn't realise bursting it was possible or Id have been straight in there. I was poking it with a penknife for a good while but chickened out on the stab!

Ouch! Mine wasn't bad enough to be prescribed antibiotics, I guess it isn't fully abcessed. I just hope choosing not to do root canal right away was the best idea!

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 14:08

Thanks for the confidence inspiring stories guys.

I'm certainly going to delay it for as long as I can now, haha.

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 14:33

The dentist said that root canal can take an hour aswell, sometimes more. That's madness!

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 14:59

kgi said:
The misinformation in this thread is scary. First off:

1) Abscess: It won't go away on its own. You will need antibiotics. If your dentist suggested salt water for it that means it is reaaaally small. If you feel it's not small then ask for antibiotics, unless you enjoy the pain. Popping the abscess yourself is not that smart when your mouth is full of bacteria IS IT? Yes you will get relief but chances are you are in for worse.

2) Root canal: The RC by itself does not hurt (obviously done under local anesthesia). The reason why it might hurt is in case you get an infection during/after the canal (because blood may enter the root or the root/gum may bleed deep down). The infection causes the pain. Best course of action when you get a root canal is to ask your dentist for an antiobiotics prescription just in case. If the next day you have pain that is getting progressively worse then get the pills (note: you may have slight pain after the RC but it should be getting less and less, not worse. Also, if you bite and have pain when you do that means the filling need filing and you should go to the dentist to sort it out).

If you have a problem that needs a root canal and you ignore it then you will, most definitely and unavoidably, end up extracting the tooth.

As far as I'm aware it's not an abcess, just a slight infection of the root of the tooth.

Drake5 · 28 Feb 2011 at 17:59

Sp00n said:
Yea you can get implants under the nhs.

Only under certain severe circumstances though such as trauma and illness as far as I'm aware.