To SMASH my own tooth out my own mouth

[PottedPlant234]

Not literally obviously! Very dramatic title but it’s metaphorically exactly how I feel right now. Sorry for the long post but I’m so desperate for help or advice here

I’ve got toothache and it’s getting worse and ruining my life. We initially thought it was a sinus infection but I’m certain it’s the tooth now. 2 courses of antibiotics haven’t helped it at all, and the pain is getting worse and I can feel it affecting a bigger area of my face now. I know which tooth the pain is originally coming from when the dentist tapped it to check. I’m taking painkillers everyday to cope with it but it’s getting beyond that now and I can still feel it over the painkillers.

The pain started off just above my tooth in my cheek as a dull ache but would come in waves of extreme pain and throbbing. Then the pain eases off after 10-60 minutes and goes back to the dull ache again. Then later on, another episode of extreme pain starts again.

When it’s a dull ache I can just about put up with it and get on with my life, but the waves of extreme pain are agonising. Nothing helps and I end up lying down sobbing holding onto my face. They’re happening a lot more often now, and it’s not just the tooth that’s sore now- it’s my entire upper jaw, lower jaw, cheek area and ear. It feels like my face on that side is throbbing and the pain has been enough to make me sick. My jaw hurts as if I’ve been punched and it sometimes feels tingly, as if it’s itchy inside it. My ear throbs and feels exactly like when I had an ear infection. It also aches on the hard bit of my head (sorry don’t know the exact word) directly behind my ear lobe. The tooth itself is more painful now too and I can feel it throbbing in my mouth. The other side of my face is fine.

I’ve got a root canal booked but it’s months away (nobody’s fault, dentists are just extremely busy right now) but the thought of waiting weeks nevermind months with this pain makes me feel so scared. I don’t know why I’m posting, I just don’t know what to do😭 I can’t afford private unfortunately. I was thinking of enquiring about getting the tooth extracted but I really wanted to avoid that if i could at my age. Anyone else been in this situation, did you wait for the RCT or just have it removed?

@PottedPlant234 Fangs for the update 😁

Best of luck with it.

@PottedPlant234

dentist here again. So that's 3 course of antibiotics you've had? Am I right?
Sorry, but I personally think that is really irresponsible of your dentist. So he/she is just fobbing you off with antibiotics every time you get an infection and won't be able to do active treatment for another FEW WHOLE MONTHS???

Haven't they heard of antibiotic resistance? It's potentially the next large scale pandemic...

The more antibiotics you take, the less likely they'll work when you have a potentially life- threatening infection. It's especially concerning as there is something easily that can be done to sort this issue out.

I know we are living through a pandemic, and dentistry has been hit particularly hard as a result of restrictions, resulting in backlogs and long waiting lists, but I'm sorry. I'd say this is totally morally wrong, irresponsible and poor practice.

What you need is for them to do some actual treatment. Now. As an emergency. Not a few months down the line.

Half hour max to numb you up, remove the filling and drain the infection. Or half an hour to take the tooth out.

If you opt for root treatment, you can head back to them in a FEW MONTHS to get the rest of the root treatment completed.

Seriously. You need to call them. You need to say you are unhappy with the wait times. That you appreciate how busy they are, but it's unacceptable to have to take yet another course of antibiotics.

Here's a link to some info about this.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/567186/nationalldentalleaflet.pdf

www.nhs.uk/conditions/antibiotics/antibiotic-antimicrobial-resistance/

3 courses of ABs sounds really irresponsible of the dentist. My dentist told me he was very reluctant to give me a second course when he did as he was concerned about AB resistance but because the infection was strong he did. He did warn me he couldn't give me more until the extraction date. That's not supposed to be until 5th March and I'm in such agony I've been able to bring forward to 25th but I am literally counting down the days. My tongue and lip just above the tooth are going numb and the best they could offer me was 10 days time (and this is private).

I had to have double dose metronidazole. That worked. I know how you feel :(

The quickest and simplest way to stop the pain Is to drain the infection through the tooth. Ask for an appointment again

I have suffered this op. At first the gp thought it was trigeminal neuralgia but an mri was clear. Now seeing a maxofacial surgeon who thinks the infection has now gone down into my jaw and is irritating one of my facial nerves. I had a cone beam ct scan to confirm this and will see the doctor for results next week. Will have to have the tooth out if this is the case.

Have you tried clove oil in the meantime? It's surprisingly effective for a plant-based thing, just make sure you read the instructions as I believe you have to dilute it to avoid gum damage.

@StormTreader

I’ve used clove oil in the past as a reliable short term toothache remedy but only recently read the leaflet with care(!). The leaflet was clear about the potential of long term use for gum damage.

This time round, I put a drop on to a cotton bud & ‘painted’ the oil onto the affected tooth. Worked well.

@PottedPlant234 I hope the antibiotics are kicking in & you are starting to feel a bit better.

This should bring you some relief as the infection is temporarily repressed, but as soon as you finish the course, there is the significant chance for the infection to take hold again.

Whilst you are waiting for the booked appointment the underlying infection affects your overall health, including the tissue in & around the affected tooth.

The longer this infection is left, the greater the underlying damage & the risk of far removal than just a root canal or tooth extraction.

You do still need to have the tooth & site of the infection dealt with as soon as possible, in days not weeks.

I’ve read all the comments and am so grateful to everyone for replying and giving advice I’ve been taking the antibiotics and I think it genuinely has helped it! The tooth isn’t agony anymore and I can eat on it again. It’s still slightly painful but not nearly as bad as before. It also doesn’t feel ‘different’ or like it’s sticking out when I bite like it did before.

The pain in my jaw and face has got a lot better too! I don’t have earache anymore and my cheek doesn’t throb. I noticed I’ve still got a dull ache in my jaw joint area and my lower jaw is still sore (I think the dentist explained this as the infection dripping from top to bottom jaw but I might have completely misunderstood so that might not be accurate!) it’s under my lower jaw where the lymph nodes are but they’re not swollen thankfully, it’s just sore. The jaw joint hurts aswell but it’s like a dull/tired type of pain and not as sharp and throbbing as it was before thankfully. I’m hoping the antibiotics get rid of the rest of the infection and the rest of the jaw pain clears up too.

I’m at a really good dentist practice and they said if it doesn’t resolve after this course to call back and we will take it from there. I think dentistry has been totally swamped after covid and lockdowns so in an ideal world I would have had it sorted by now but they’re just so busy and overworked

X

I've had this and had two teeth pulled.

@sausagepastapot

I've had this and had two teeth pulled.

Oh that’s a shame hopefully getting the teeth removed solved the problem?

The tooth itself and my face and jaw have started getting quite a bit more painful again (on and off) so I’ll finish the course of antibiotics and follow advice on this thread and call the dentist again if it’s still sore afterwards. It’s not as bad as it was but definitely getting worse again which I’m really disappointed about, I had hoped these antibiotics would be the end of it

I don’t know much about teeth or dental things but when I google it I keep reading horror stories about spreading to the jaw/facial bones and it’s so scary! I just want this all to be over with.

Your dentist sounds useless. He/she should be offering the option of immediate extraction, not just fobbing you off with yet more antibiotics.

I went to the dentist a few months ago with a toothache. Having had extreme toothache occur overnight twice before (different teeth), I knew there was no time to waste before I too, was at the stage of wanting to smash it out myself.

In every case (next day appointment) I was offered a choice of root canal (at a later date), or immediate extraction. I always chose extraction and the immediate relief was immense. In my most recent visit the tooth had a revolting abscess, and was one of a few they saw each year where extraction was the only option. He was amazed that I wasn't screaming in pain due to how bad it was. It was linked to some medical treatment I'd recently had, which is probably why it was so bad (and disgusting to look at). I'm glad he wasn't irresponsible enough to just fob me off with antibiotics, as chances are I'd have ended up in hospital with a terrible infection in other parts of my body as well, and the tooth would have ended having to be pulled anyway.

I would phone back, or better yet find a better dentist, and insist on an emergency appointment for an extraction.

How is the tooth now? Hopefully you've called your dentist, and they are doing some actual treatment to solve this ?

Please don't accept more antibiotics

I had this in lockdown
Found an emergency private dentist and got it extracted
They exist , find one and kill that tooth 🦷

I had this op, it’s awful. I’ve had four children and I’d give birth over this any day. I had about six courses of antibiotics, every time it would get better then come back within weeks. I asked them to remove the tooth and the relief was immense! Where is the tooth, is it in your smile line? I was very lucky mine wasn’t but even if it was I think I’d have begged them to remove it because the pain was just too horrific to live with. I really think you should phone back now, it’s been a good 48 hours+ since you started the course, how many days did they give you? If they’re going to run out today/tomorrow at the very least phone them and tell them you’re still in pain and you need another course of antibiotics because you don’t want to be stuck in pain again this weekend. You have my heartfelt sympathies op, it’s just horrid

Thanks everyone for sticking by

The tooth is still sore to bite on but not as bad as before. The earache has basically gone but the dull ache in my jaw is still there- it’s right in at the joint between my top and bottom jaw and underneath my bottom jaw too. Its a dull pain (not unbearable) but sometimes it gets more painful and starts to ache badly. It’s not as bad in my upper jaw anymore though which is a bit confusing as it’s an upper tooth I was having issues with!

I’ve not been able to get a faster appointment unfortunately the course of antibiotics are finished after today so I’ll keep phoning and trying to speed it up. It’s still a few months before the RCT so if it keeps hurting im going to try really hard to get a sooner appointment x

I think if you phone today and tell them you’re still in pain they should at least they could write a prescription for you to pick up. If you finish the course today and you’re still in pain however much less than the agony you were in before the antibiotics haven’t finished working and as soon as they’re out of your system you’ll be back to square one. I really would phone today and ask for another prescription.

You need active treatment, not more prescriptions

Try ringing today, because of the weather they may well have some cancellations!!

It sounds like it could be trigeminal neuralgia, I hope not. Are you getting electeic shock like jolts? Is there a really sensitive spot on your face?

I had pain like yours this time last year. It was so debilitating. My dentists receptionists were fab. They managed to get me a fast appointment by calling me when they had a cancellation and I started root canal treatment almost straight away. The pain went away almost instantly and it is now fine. I would call your dentist and ask if they can call you if they have a cancellation.

Hi @PottedPlant234 just been wondering how you are getting on.

Thinking back just a few weeks when I was in jaw thumping agony & knocking back Co-codamol like smarties, I got into the dental surgery. After the x-ray the dentist brought me up to the screen so that I could see the scan of my jaw. He pointed out the condition of the aching tooth & carefully showed how RCT would not be an option & extraction was the appropriate treatment.

I was reluctant to loose a tooth but once I had seen for myself the evidence of the state of the tooth, I did not need any further persuasion & I let go of the fantasy of keeping the tooth.

So @PottedPlant234, I think that you need to look further than your dentist to find someone who can resolve this for you. Are you still hoping to keep the tooth hence hanging in for the RCT? Or are you reconciled to an extraction?

I understand that NHS dentists are running ragged to catch up on backed up dental appointments so long/double appts for RCT are not so readily available hence the delay.

Either way, you cannot wait weeks for the event. After this course of antibiotics, you still have soreness at the tooth & aching in the jaw. By the end of the course, the infection should be under control or sufficiently suppressed, & it seems this is not so.

You do need to be seen by a dentist & thoroughly examined - is it a tooth problem or is it the form of neuralgia that pps have mentioned. to you brave people who have this condition, it sounds overwhelmingly painful.

I don’t think that you can wait much longer for your usual dentist to fit you in. Yes, you should ring in case of a cancellation & to let them know that you have completed the antibiotics but still have soreness/pain. If they cannot see you within a day or two then you need to see an emergency dentist sooner rather than later.

More antibiotics whilst you wait are just postponing the work required & really not good clinical practice.