PAIN!!!! Abcessed tooth again!

[Stand_watie]

Whole side of my face swollen up. It went from nothing wrong with me Saturday, to excruciating agony yesterday evening. I had a penicillin RX on hand "in case" it acted up again before my surgery (August 12), why didn't I fill the darn thing and put it in the fridge just in case? Only cost 4 bucks and it would have been about a 12 hour head start I'd have had on knocking out the infection/pain.

My new wife has been very sympathetic, but I know I've got to be getting on her nerves by now with my whimpering and cringing. I think women must be hardwired to put up with crybaby husbands (when it comes to pain), and men must be hardwired to be crybabies when it comes to pain.

I got oxycodone, but I'm not looking forward to a couple of days of severely lowered IQ. Your forwarned, any particularly wierd posts from me in the next few days get blamed on the narcotics

I am not a dentist, and know nothing about dentristy, but it almost feels to me (from feeling my mouth) as if the dentist could put a a big needle in my gum and drain the pus/pressure out of there. Anybody know if that's (theoretically) possible? I think I might prefer that to being stupid and clumsy for a couple days.

[K Frame]

My sympathies. NOTHING hurts worse than an abycessed tooth.

"Anybody know if that's (theoretically) possible?"

That's how an dental abycess is drained if it has to be drained.

I had a tooth that abycessed numerous times over the years. One root was going through a process called reabsorption (it had been root canaled), and that process caused abycesses.

The one time it happened it actually vented itself through the gum. Nice big lump and a nasty taste, but no pain.


If the penicillin works for you, it's an active killer of infectious agents, as opposed to erythrocin, which simply keeps the nasties from multiplying, but doesn't kill the active ones. The result is a faster reduction in the infection. Get your script filled, start taking it, and let your dentist know what is going on. They may try to get you in sooner.

[Stand_watie]

....
If the penicillin works for you, it's an active killer of infectious agents, as opposed to erythrocin, which simply keeps the nasties from multiplying, but doesn't kill the active ones. The result is a faster reduction in the infection. Get your script filled, start taking it, and let your dentist know what is going on. They may try to get you in sooner.

Just saw him. I sort of whimpercriedslunk into his office at 8:10 this a.m. He was in the reception area talking to another patient, and he looked up at my swollen face and immediately told his office manager to write me an rx for pain. We're stuck with the August 12 date, because he needs to have an anesthesiologist come in to knock me out (That's 600 bucks per hour if anybody reading this is studying in the medical field and interested in career suggestions), and that's his first available date.

[Monkeyleg]

I've had many of those. If the infection gets too bad, it gets into the bone. I had that on a tooth a few months back. After the surgeon removed the tooth, he had to scrape infected areas from the jaw bone. Lots of fun!

Don't let the infection go any longer than necessary. It can really mess you up (even kill you).

[Stand_watie]

I've had many of those. If the infection gets too bad, it gets into the bone. I had that on a tooth a few months back. After the surgeon removed the tooth, he had to scrape infected areas from the jaw bone. Lots of fun!

Don't let the infection go any longer than necessary. It can really mess you up (even kill you).

Ouch. That's scary. I do trust my dentists judgement. He's pricey, and a little of an off-beat personality,  but he really knows what he's doing.

[Gewehr98]

Be darned careful with that abcess in the meantime.  The pressure can build up, and the infection go systemic.

If it builds up enough pressure, even a slight touch will cause it to drain, which has happened to me once years ago thanks to an orthodontist who didn't trim wires on my braces, causing one or two in the process.

My condolences.  Dental abcesses and kidney stones are two things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies.

[brimic]

Dental abcesses and kidney stones are two things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies.

Never had the former, but have had the latter. 
Two days of pain and I was begging the doc to do surgery, even with knowing what was involved. He told me to sit it out for 3 more agonizing days.

[Iain]

Aside from the abcessed tooth - congrats on the marriage.

[crt360]

I'm with ya.    I was having serious pain in my jaw.  I had seen my dentist only a couple of months before and they said my teeth looked fine even though I had complained about pain in a tooth when biting on certain things (along with sensitivity to cold stuff), so I went to the doctor.  They x-rayed the jaw and didn't see anything, so they just gave me a prescription for pain meds and told me to come back for an MRI if it was still hurting in two weeks.  I didn't take any of the stuff they prescribed, but started taking advil.  A day or two after seeing the doc, the pain focused in the area of one tooth and could only be soothed by cold water, which worked for a few minutes at a time.  I finally went back to the dentist who gave me penicillin and set me up with the root canal guy.  They drilled it out and will be filling and capping it this week.

Apparently, I had an old filling that was very small, but deep, that was causing trauma to the nerve whenever I bit on something with that tooth.  The nerve/root thingy finally had enough and went apeshit.  Based on the reaction of the endodontist and his assistant, I suspect whatever I had was supposed be as painful as it was.

Severe dental pain helps me understand why some people volunteer to be suicide bombers.

[PTK]

Ouch. I've dealt with plenty of dental pain in the past... I had a few DOZEN fillings and three root canals... in a four week period.

I got oxycodone, but I'm not looking forward to a couple of days of severely lowered IQ.

That must be an odd side-effect. I've never experienced any loss of function on painkillers - I have some in my system right now.

[K Frame]

"Apparently, I had an old filling that was very small, but deep, that was causing trauma to the nerve whenever I bit on something with that tooth."

That's exactly how my Frankentooth started to go wrong.

[roo_ster]

Aside from the abcessed tooth - congrats on the marriage.

Now, why did that make me laugh?

[Stand_watie]

Aside from the abcessed tooth - congrats on the marriage.

    Why thank you. I got a good un' I think.

[Monkeyleg]

    Why thank you. I got a good un' I think.

How are her teeth? :D

[Uncle Bubba]

My sympathies. NOTHING hurts worse than an abycessed tooth.

I dunno, man. Never had an abscess myself but I'll put my torn knee cartilage in '84 and my back going out in '89 up against anybody's abscess when it comes to pain. Because of the sidewards pressure on the joint when the cartilage tore, part of it got caught between the upper and lower leg bones. "Exquisitely excruciating" is a good description of that pain. With my back, it felt as though the muscle was pulling loose from the bone.

Stand_watie, I sincerely hope you make it OK until your appointment. As said, I've never had an abscess but I have had several teeth go bad and had to have them pulled. Not pain I would wish on very many.

[Boomhauer]

(That's 600 bucks per hour if anybody reading this is studying in the medical field and interested in career suggestions)

Pay my travel out and back and I'll take care of you with a hammer.

Thank God my dad is a dental technician. He not only knows more about the human mouth and jaw than most dentists, he can do some minor work, and what he can't take care of easily, I get a professional courtesy discount at the finest oral surgeon in town.

[K Frame]

I've had both torn knee cartilage and have had severe back sprains.

I'll say it again.

NOTHING hurts worse than an active abycessed tooth. Unless you have seriously hard core meds, nothing you do can get you away from the pain.

[nico]

Just saw him. I sort of whimpercriedslunk into his office at 8:10 this a.m. He was in the reception area talking to another patient, and he looked up at my swollen face and immediately told his office manager to write me an rx for pain. We're stuck with the August 12 date, because he needs to have an anesthesiologist come in to knock me out (That's 600 bucks per hour if anybody reading this is studying in the medical field and interested in career suggestions), and that's his first available date.

Why are they sedating you?  An abscess is something you want to get extracted asap because of the possibility of systemic infection.  It's a relatively remote possibility, but it's pretty severe if it happens.  I can't say anything for sure without seeing you or your x-rays, but if one of my patients had an abscessed tooth that needed a simple extraction, I'd really want them to bite the bullet and get the extraction done with nitrous and maybe Ativan instead of waiting two weeks for IV sedation.  At the very least, the pain you'll be in while you're waiting for the extraction to be done will be comparable (if not worse) than the experience of getting the tooth extracted sooner.

fwiw, I'm a fourth year dental student, which means I treat patients full time under faculty supervision. 

[bedlamite]

Last fall I ripped my knee apart. Torn PCL, ACL, meniscus, and muscle fascia in the calf. The pain from that was nothing compared to the abscess I had 5 years ago. Sedation is nice, but in this  case I'd get it fixed today.

[brimic]

NOTHING hurts worse than an active abycessed tooth. Unless you have seriously hard core meds, nothing you do can get you away from the pain.

I hope that you never have kidney stones

Imagine the feeling of a knife stabbed into one of your kidneys with it constantly twisting, except without the merciful death at the end. It hurts so bad you gasp for breath for hours on end- when you aren't vomitting from the pain. People cringe at the thought of passing a stone through their uretha- no, this feels more like the best orgasm you've ever had after spending days curled up in a fetal position in pure agony.

That being said, I have very good teeth and hope I never get an abcess.

[Gewehr98]

Ditto on the kidney stones.  I could endure another abcessed tooth much longer than another kidney stone.

[Stand_watie]

Why are they sedating you?  An abscess is something you want to get extracted asap because of the possibility of systemic infection.  It's a relatively remote possibility, but it's pretty severe if it happens.  I can't say anything for sure without seeing you or your x-rays, but if one of my patients had an abscessed tooth that needed a simple extraction, I'd really want them to bite the bullet and get the extraction done with nitrous and maybe Ativan instead of waiting two weeks for IV sedation.  At the very least, the pain you'll be in while you're waiting for the extraction to be done will be comparable (if not worse) than the experience of getting the tooth extracted sooner.

fwiw, I'm a fourth year dental student, which means I treat patients full time under faculty supervision. 

     Wow! You're on the road to the good life (Career-wise). It's going to be three extractions, and he's going to have to cut them out because they are broken off.

[K Frame]

Hey, Stand, long time no see. At least not since you talked me off the ledge about my extraction last year. :)

So you would automatically extract an abycessed tooth instead of treating with antibiotics and then doing a root canal treatment?

[Uncle Bubba]

I've had both torn knee cartilage and have had severe back sprains.

I'll say it again.

NOTHING hurts worse than an active abycessed tooth. Unless you have seriously hard core meds, nothing you do can get you away from the pain.

The voice of experience, then. Tell you what, I'll take your word for it and hope I never have to compare the pains.

FWIW, mine wasn't a sprain, it was a dislocated vertebrae. "Acute double subluxation", the bonecracker called it. It slipped in two axes, forward and downward. The original injury was courtesy of Uncle Sam's Green Machine seven years before then that didn't get treated at the time. Well, I did get some mild muscle relaxers and threats of stockade time for faking an injury. As I recall that passed for "treatment" back then.

[K Frame]

Of course pain, like recoil, is HIGHLY subjective. :)

And, I've never had a kidney stone, but I did watch it turn a guy inside out at the office...