HORRIFIC toothache- sore face, ear and jaw

[Soreface]

I’ve posted previously about some dental and face pain I’m having. It’s really not getting better so I just wanted to post again to try and get some advice.

Basically, I’ve got an infection in the root of my upper molar. During the day the tooth itself is painful but not agony and I can eat on it- it’s only when a piece of food hits a certain spot or corner on the tooth that it really hurts.

It all started because I woke up with excruciating, throbbing pain in the entire side of my face. It woke me up from my sleep and I spent the night crying and trying not to be sick with the pain- it seriously felt like I had been smashed in the face and my entire ear and jaw on that side was excruciating.

I went to the dentist and I’ve got an infection and need a root canal which I’ve got an appointment for in a few months. I’ve finished the course of antibiotics but unfortunately the pain is still there. During the day it’s like a dull ache in my jaw and a throbbing ache in my upper cheek- almost below my eye socket which I’m not sure if it’s related or not. It also hurts in my ear and there’s a crackly feeling everytime I swallow- this has all started in the last week or so and could be completely unrelated but whatever it is, it’s really horrible

The worst part is during the night, the pain physically wakes me up and it’s the worst throbbing pain I’ve ever experienced. It was agony in my upper and lower jaw, as well as my mouth and ear and cheek on that side too. It makes me want to vomit it’s so bad and all I can do is just sob until it stops- weirdly painkillers don’t seem to help but the extreme pain randomly eases off on it’s own.

I really don’t know what to do but this pain is awful. During the day it’s bearable- I can deal with a little bit of jaw and ear and cheek pain, but during the night it’s horrific. I’ve tried sleeping in different positions and sleeping so my head is elevated on several pillows but nothing helps anymore

I really don’t know what to do to try and help this, has anyone else experienced this or got any knowledge about it? Thanks in advance x

@LeSquigh

As others have said, get it taken out. Root canals rarely seem to work for very long but in the meantime get metronidazole antibiotics prescribed if you haven’t already. Amoxicillin is generally what they give out first and they are almost useless with dental stuff.

My dentist said that that in his experience root canals are an expensive gamble and that more than half the time people are in so much discomfort, they eventually just want the tooth removed.

Yep. As my DP found out recently when he spent hundreds on a private root canal as the NHS wait was so long and then after a few weeks the tooth cracked and he had to have it out anyway!

Been there, get it out. You won’t regret it!

The pain won’t go until you have had your root canal treatment. I had this pain a few months ago so I completely understand how horrific it is. My dentist did something to temporarily block the pain until he could fit me in for the root canal so I’m amazed yours hasn’t done this and I’m also surprised they’re leaving you waiting so long for the root canal.

Just for balance, I've had two root canals (one of which was complex) and both worked well, still good 5 years later. They were both done by a real specialist who only does root canals, and were expensive, but it was worth it.

Metronidazole for sure. High dose, seven days. You absolutely cannot drink alcohol with it. So much solidarity here, veteran of the molar wars.

You need to be more forceful (in the kindest, possible way I’m saying this)
You need to phone again- say you are in agony during the night and need stronger painkillers or an appointment very soon.
If you can’t get those- then the GP is your next port of call.
You need something to mange the pain.
The GP may also refer to an emergency dental hospital.
You can’t go on in so much pain for so long.
It’s horrendous and I really feel for you.

A GP will not be able to refer to a dental hospital or to an emergency dentist it would be like your dentist referring you for a hip replacement, in fact the dentist probably has more teaching on hips than a GP has on teeth at Uni, and that’s not a dig at GPs, a dentist has 5 years on the mouth so it’s fair enough GPs are happy we have it covered so they can concentrate on the rest of the body! They are also very unlikely to give stronger pain relief for a dental issue. I would agree to go back to your dentist though. The fact you say it’s really sore on biting one part could indicate the tooth is already cracked. I’m another dentist who wouldn’t be bothered with a molar RCT (for myself) and would have it extracted but then I know I only have one dodgy molar that might ever need it.

For pain relief make sure you take the max dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly all day even if the pain isn’t too bad. If you do add in a codeine containing preparation be very careful it is only for three days max.

A prescription for metronidazole might help but from what you describe you really you need the tooth removed or the tooth opened and at least first stage RCT to clean out the infected material from the roots.

I do hope you feel better soon though.

In my area we have an emergency dental line. I called and had a decayed wisdom
Tooth pulled out same day, between Xmas and new year.

Something to try to help the pain at night. When I had an abscess in my tooth I thought it was going to explode. The only thing that helped the pain prior to extraction was a frozen bottle of water in a tea towel propped under my chin/jaw to numb the area. Went to sleep with it there. My doctor recommended it.

Maybe just where I live then Oinkypig but my GP can defin refer to the dental hospital (it’s like A and E but for dental emergencies) and can also give stronger painkillers if you are suffering- for any type of pain.
Maybe not in England though, unfortunately.

I have been there and got the tooth removed. Instant relief. The tooth removed was not at the front of my mouth so I have never bothered getting an impact etc. It being missing makes no difference to chewing etc. I think I got it removed when I was about 21.

Where are you based? 4.5 months to wait for treatment seems very long to get treatment if you are already on their books. Is it NHS or private? If you are registered with a NHS dentist you could ask if you could pay to have it done privately as there might be more appointment slots available (assuming you can afford this as you mentioned looking at getting an implant - but appreciate that a lot of people can't).

I completely understand the pain you are going through. I needed to have a root canal and was 8 months pregnant and they fitted me in within 2 weeks (private dentist). Needed to have a root canal on another tooth after I had my baby and for that one I had to wait 4 weeks (baby stripped the nutrients from my bones!). I was taking painkillers every day, but as I was breastfeeding I was restricted to paracetamol and ibuprofen. Clove oil applied with a cotton wool bud was good at numbing the pain quickly (albeit not for very long). As a previous poster said, I would go through child birth multiple times over as apposed to having toothache.

Get it taken out Op ASAP. Find another dentist if your dentist is booked up.
The worst pain I ever had was a toothache. I have had three kids and the pain is nothing like the pain I had when I had an infected tooth.

I had this 18 months ago and was practically rabid with the pain. It's the one thing that's pushed me to get over my fear of the dentist, the terror that I might go through that again.

Anyway I ended up going private after the most appalling treatment by my NHS dentist. The most marvellous dentist removed the tooth (I was supposed to have a root canal but was willing to do anything by that point and he tested it and said the tooth was practically dead anyway) and charged me a shade over £100 for it - TBH he may just have felt sorry for me as I wept copiously onto his nurses shoulder

It was a back tooth so not really visible and I don't regret it at all.

I'm shocked that you're not being treated as an emergency. Something similar happened to me on holiday in Norway (of all places); I asked my hotel to please find me a dentist, went to his surgery the next day and had the root canal straight away plus temporary filling that a PP mentioned. Crown put on back in the U.K.

If you can possibly afford it, go private. Or look at getting treatment abroad even - places like Spain, Turkey etc do quite a bit of dental tourism (no joke).

As for having it out, if it's your first one then I would probably do it. I lost the molar I had root canal on eventually (15 years later though so def worth it) and had lost another one in the meantime, so I'm now having an implant to avoid being left with only one molar on my upper right jaw.

From my recent experience a 7 day course of antibiotics won't touch a bad dental infection. I've just had an abcess & it has takes 2 × 14 day courses & 1 × 7 day course to get me to the stage where I could have the tooth out. You need to contact your dentist again & tell them you are still in pain, if it is still infected the chances of the dentist getting it numb for treatment are poor.

Mine started last September & I only had the tooth out last Monday, I need some more treatment & I'm not getting that until March 31.

Have you tired cloves/ clove oil? I had a similar issues and cloves chewed and on the tooth in combination with painkillers was the only thing that helped over night

Cocodomol is helpful.

Be careful this doesn't turn into Ludwig's angina. Saw a programme recently and a chap had this from an infection in his tooth. It can be very dangerous if an infection takes hold. I would push to get this seen again and another course of antibiotics if the first lot didn't do the trick. If the pain is really bad and your dentist is not seeing you then an emergency dentist will need to and that tooth will need to come out. Especially get checked by hospital if you have any swelling in your face or mouth.

@Soreface did you have any niggles before or was it perfectly fine one day and then you just woke up in that pain with no warning? I ask selfishly because after years of dental issues I worry about this and how to police it. How are you feeling today?

@tootsierubs
It's anatomically impossible to develop Ludwig's angina from an infected upper molar. So that is one issue that the OP can stop worrying about immediately.

OP the molar is not right at the back & partially in the gum is it?

I had a very similar pain which would come & go. Literally just had to pass out from pain to get sleep at times. I'd had an infection in a tooth 2 forward & root canal. Went back to the dentist & he thought the infection had returned. Xray clear. He was stumped until he xrayed again to check root of the wisdom (only front half was showing on previous xrays)
Turned out my wisdom where it was part covered by the gum had a big hole & the gum was trying to "reabsorb" it! Front & bottkm(?) of the tooth which was visible in the mouth / on xrays appeared perfectly healthy.. Also no pain to pressure / sensitivity seemed to direct to the tooth!

I had it out there & then. My jaw ached for a while after but from the joint being "stretched" - like a worked muscle pain which was 100x better than the pain radiating around half my face before.