Worried about DH :(

Same as PP’s, i had a root canal and the dentist said a classic sign of tooth root/nerve issues was when cold drinks helped with the pain whereas anything else didn’t touch the sides. I still test any tooth pain with a glass of iced water even now as I lived with the pain of what was eventually fixed in an afternoon for weeks.

He’s got an abscess. Do not waste A&Es time. Find an emergency private dentist and get it sorted tomorrow

Sounds exactly like my situation recently. I had the worst toothache I've had in my life, it was agony, and the only thing that helped was holding cold water in my mouth.

Apparently this is a sign that the pulp inside the tooth is dying due to infection. The cold water causes the gases inside the tooth to contract which relieves the pressure on the nerve inside. A root canal sorted out and removed all of my pain.

Sadly I have experienced this a few times too.
To relieve the pain, I kept drinking copious amounts of cold water to cool the tooth. I was waking up throughout the night to drink water and alternating between paracetamol and ibuprofen but it only dulled it slightly. Fed up, I tried the warm water with salt and at first the pain got worse but after 10 mins, the pain went and I got a couple hours respite. Went back to dentist and after she drilled a hole into the tooth, the pain disappeared. I needed root canal treatment.

Yes I had these waves with the dying nerve, it was a lot like labour in that it would ease off for a few minutes or even as long as half an hour then build up again to a crescendo..then repeat.

Reminds me of when I had a dying nerve in my tooth, temperature change would trigger the worst pains (coming in from cold outside into warm house/drinking or eating warm things etc). It was worse than labour pain and I was scared as it radiated into my head so wasn’t sure if it was even my tooth anymore. I was also initially told it may be sinusitis by dentist. By the time I got back to the dentist the pain had stopped and it turned out the nerve had died all together!

Sounds more than just sinusitis to me - I had pain in my jaw with it, and antibiotics helped because everything started coming out and the pain eased.

I had this and it was the nerve dying. I went back to the dentist and he removed all of the nerve and filled it. Just had the permanent root canal yesterday! I’ve also had 2 labours and the pain from this was just the worst.

Sounds to me too like trigeminal neuralgia. I have it and I thought it was toothache at first. So many trips to the dentist and painkillers and nothing touched the pain until my dentist finally had a brainwave and sent me to my GP to get a referral to a Neurosurgeon.

Is it constant or does the pain come in waves when touching your face/brushing teeth/washing face etc?

I found abses more painful than childbirth. And it took 2-3 days for antibiotics to kick in (also was not picked up on first visit to dentist)

I had this and it was a dental abscess

I had a problem with a wisdom tooth and it wasn't normal tooth pain. It was agony. I had to get serious painkillers from my GP.

While waiting for an appointment he could try swilling the affected area with warm salty water - a teaspoon of salt dissolved in a cup of warm water, take a mouthful and swill it round the area for as long as he can, spit it out then another mouthful etc till the cup,is empty. One cupful every half hour.
This provides an unsuitable environment for any infection, if it isn't infected it won't do any harm.

Should add only cold water helped the pain so he gargled and spit. Once it was drilled the relief was huge.

My husband had the same. He was sent away with two sets of antibiotics by two different dentists. The pain got MUCH worse. He saw a third dentist and it turned out he needed a root canal. OP you can go to any dentist as they are private so if yours fobs you off again see a different one.

When I had this I had a tooth infection and the root was twisted. It punctured my sinus - worst pain I have ever had and I gave birth with no pain relief. Go back to the dentist! If it is a specific tooth I would just have it pulled personally.

I had an abscess before and it was worse than both my labours!I was sent home with antibiotics and I rang begging for help after 3 days because nothing had changed.my face swelled ,I couldn’t sleep.he told me he could pull the tooth but the numbing medication might not be as effective .i didn’t care at that stage and when he pulled it ,the smell was disgusting and i could feel the infection/pus in my mouth.it was gross.i went home to bed and slept and when i woke up the immense pain was gone.the relief of it .i shudder when i hear of abscesses now and I’m afraid even writing this in case i jinx myself and get another one!

I had something similar, went to the dentist, they did xrays - not a tooth problem. Dr thought it could be a nerve in my face that other posters have referenced. Pain killers didn't help but I read online that sometimes acupuncture works so got an emergency appointment with a local practitioner. It was miraculous...pain eased after 1 session and totally vanished after 3. That was 3 years ago and it hasn't returned. Good luck!

Standard pain killers not working a classic sign that it could be neuralgia. I've got TN and first thought it was dental pain.

This was me some years ago. Tooth abcess. Excruciating. Found by xray at dentist and eventually tooth removed. Pain was horrendous. Gargling with salt water gave some relief between painkillers. Initially I was fobbed off as infection in salivary glands. I recommend emergency dentist.

Do you have a dental hospital near you? They deal with things when dentist is shut. Ours is open during the day at the weekends.

He might need a filling removed and a dressing put in to see if that helps if it is his tooth.

It sounds like an infection/abcess to me. I work in dentistry. Is it face, cheek or neck hot and swollen? Is the pain throbbing/pulsating?