Severe toothache. What can I do?

[TheHound86]

So I have terrible toothache on my right side. No swelling or redness that I can see. I’m taking cocodamol and ibuprofen which is helping a bit. I can’t afford to see my private dentist until at last Friday and I’ve been trying to get an nhs dentist for ages but they all have really long waiting lists. I did 111 online and rang the dentists they suggested but they won’t see me. I don’t know what to do now until I can afford to see the private dentist.

Oil of cloves is traditional and sometimes works. It’s not expensive, try boots or Superdrug, local chemist etc

i hope you feel better soon 💐

A few things that helped me when I had an abscess until I could get seen were

• brushing my teeth, the pressure seemed to help.
• clove oil, gross but effective
• hot or cold compress

I hope you get sorted soon. I ended up crying on the floor in A&E once with a tooth related issue. Horrid pain!

Salt. Put a big spoon of salt in a glass of water, stir until it's dissolved, then spend 30 seconds 3 times a day swishing it round your mouth, particularly over the sore tooth. Spit it out.

Something has likely got in and inflamed the nerve, and if that's the case, salt can get to the site of the problem too, if dissolved. It might hurt like fury when you first do it, but it has a numbing effect within half an hour, and decreases inflammation in 12 - 24 hours, which will ease the pressure on the nerve.

Effective and super cheap. I hope it works for you.

I'd also recommend Paramol, which you can buy over the counter.

If you don't have clove oil, a whole clove placed where it hurts is very effective IME

Ring your private dentist and explain.
I work at one, we’d see you to get you out of pain and sort money out later (as long as you were already a patient of ours).

alternatively look up ‘dental access centre’ or dental hospital in your area.

I’m sorry NHS dentistry is in the state it is, as clinicians we don’t want this shitshow either.

Ok so I managed to get a bit more sleep after taking cocodamol at half 4 this morning. I’ve got up and used salt water and taken a naproxen in the hope that will help more than ibuprofen. I’ve got to go to work soon and when I get home I’m going to try again to see someone. I think I will call my dentist and explain. If nothing else I can book in for Friday. Just going to get an ice pack out to use until I leave for work.

Some good suggestions here but do not use a hot compress as that can make things worse and is potentially dangerous, eg it could draw an abscess out and burst it.

Cold compress, icing, clove oil, painkillers - all these are fu E

Oops- all these are fine.

Call your dentist and explain. They maybe able to set up a mini repayment plan or just sort out the fee later. At least get an appointment sorted because if you call Friday they may not see you till Monday

I work at an nhs/private dentist that is currently accepting nhs patients. If you want to pm me I can tell you to see if it’s local enough for you?

Hi OP. I would try 111 again. I had to call a couple of months ago as I was having very bad toothache also, within two hours I was prescribed antibiotics after speaking to a dentist. They couldn't see me but I was so glad to get some relief. I was told a dentist wouldn't do anything until the infection ( presumably what was causing the pain) was gone. It the mean time I would get some panadol for the pain. Good luck, I hope you get some relief soon.

If you can get to a pharmacy the Oragel Max they sell OTC is really effective if used alongside painkillers. It’s very strong and gives you a couple of hours relief to eat something or get to sleep. Saved me when I had an impacted wisdom tooth.

I’ve got an appointment at the private dentist and managed to borrow some money to hopefully cover the cost. I really hope they can sort it out for me.

I agree. Oragel made the pain disappear within a minute of applying it. It’s wonderful stuff.

The dentist took my tooth out but I’m still in so much pain. I hope that’s normal after a tooth extraction. Not thinking straight. I just made myself scrambled egg and forgot to put milk and butter in because of being distracted by the pain.

Normal to feel tender but it could be dry socket if it remains painful where it was extracted. I've had that before and you'll need to return to the dentist where they'll probably pack the socket with some sort of clove dressing- sounds a bit odd but it works! I had mine packed a couple of times before it resolved.
See how it goes... if it's improving in the morning you're probably fine

You’ve got to be really gentle with an extraction for the first 24 to 48 hours. No sucking, spitting, straws, or smoking. Basically anything that creates any kind of pressure in your mouth. No bitty food that could get caught in the hole either.

My dentist told me to not brush for 48 hours (gross but manageable) just to saltwater rinse and to do it very particularly. Hold the water in your mouth and gently shake your head, don’t swish it about like usual then lean over the sink and let it dribble out. No spitting.

I was quite high risk for dry socket but I managed to avoid it thankfully and I reckon it’s due to the aftercare tips.

Hope you’re feeling much better very soon.

It won't be a dry socket after a couple of hours. It's normal to have pain after an extraction. Pain tends to be worse on the 3rd day so don't worry if it's persisting. Obviously plenty of pain relief. No rinsing today, just a soft diet

Even if you do get a dry socket it will heal snd only needs treatment for symptomatic relief, packing can delay healing so if you can manage pain with painkillers do.

This 100%

I had to go back to the dentist today and it turns out the extraction site was quite badly infected so it’s been cleaned out and packed with some dressing and I’m now on antibiotics. I really hope they kick in quickly.

@TheHound86 I am also in agony at the moment with an infected tooth. Fortunately I have a NHS dentist so was able to get seen within 48hours and they have prescribed antibiotics for me. They have also sent me to a specialist because or where my nerve is to have the stupid tooth out as it done this last year too!

pain relief I am trying to minimise as I’m currently expecting so it’s just paracetamol for me and hoping these antibiotics kixk
in quick!

hope you feel better soon

You poor thing. IME toothache can be worse than labour.

I hope your antibiotics work soon. In the meantime you can get paracetamol with codeine from a pharmacist. They really do help.