To ask if anyone's a dentist? HELP

[MatronicO6]

I know it's not an AIBU but posting here for traffic and begging for any advice about my dental problem.

On Tuesday I felt a general bit of tooth sensitivity by Wednesday it was more of a mild pain so I called dentist for urgent appointment but couldn't get one till Thursday. I went and have basically cracked a tooth but there was also an abscess. They removed the nerve from tooth to relieve pain but didn't remove as they want to do a scan to see if it can be saved. All booked for Wednesday.

I was given antibiotics for infection and started taking Thursday evening. But since then my cheek has swollen significantly and the pain is at times excruciating. There was a bit of relief today when I thought the antibiotics had finally kicked in and that pain dimmed. But since 8 the pain is back in full force, I have been sat on sofa in tears.

From previous experience, of an infected tooth and root canal, I was basically told the pain would persist until the antibiotics kicked in. But it's been 2 days, the swelling is massive and I have barely slept in 5 days.

Should I try go to an emergency dentist? Is it a waiting game for antibiotics to get into system? Is this normal or should I be worried?

Dental nurse here - call 111 to be seen at an out of hours clinic over the bank holidays, a swelling needs to be seen and treated. You may need a second type of antibiotic or the tooth may need to be redressed. Manage the pain with paracetamol and ibuprofen and fingers crossed you get some sleep.

I'm not a dentist but you have my sympathies , dental pain is excruciating

Are you taking painkillers? Your post doesn't mention if you are

If you have an emergency dental number then yes phone it

If not you may be able to get some assistance from NHS 24 but this depends where you are & what local services in place ie some hospitals have on call Maxillofacial team for dental emergencies that you can be referred into the hospital to see.

At the very least if you are already taking the max doses of painkillers already NHS 24may be able to get out of hours gp to issue prescription for stronger painkiller however sometimes as soon as you say dental problem they aren't interested & if wishing stronger painkillers you may have to specifically request this
But this may also be something that takes a long time depending on availability of out of hours staff in your area

Not a dentist but in September I had a filling redone in a tooth that was infected (should just have been pulled really). Neither dentist nor GP would give me anything except a recommendation for co-codamol and ibuprofen alternated. I gave it 5 days and then called the dentist crying. The root had twisted and poked into my sinus cavity!

I'd call them back.

Are you taking pain relief? Don't wait if you are in severe pain - at least start with generic paracetamol if you are able to. 111 can also offer advice and if you are having issues with your cheek swelling then that may need looking at.
DH had a tooth removed just before Christmas and even now the whole area is still very tender so if you had extensive emergency work done - it could be causing you pain still. I hope you can find some relief soon.

i would try to see an emergency dentist asap as the pain is worse and you now have swelling.

Try a cold pack on your face but wrap it in a tea towel first so you don't get frostbite. It helps numbs the pain.

Any of those frozen cold pack you get for picnics...or a bag of peas

I have been prescribed Diclofenac as a painkiller and allowed to take it with paracetamol, which I have been. Literally count down the minutes until my next dose. Although I'm only on 25mg of it and can't help but wonder if I'd be better taking ibuprofen.

My hesitation is that I was in this position before and advised all I could do was continue painkillers until antibiotics started to take affect. Also the pain reduced considerably this afternoon like it went down to 1 on the pain scale. Whereas when I wrote this it had gone back up to like an 8. It's now subsided a bit again to maybe a 3. So overall the pain is reducing but it seems to be coming on and off in waves.

Try and get an appt even if you have to pay. It sucks :(

You have my full sympathy, I think it was Martin Amis (who has suffered a lot of dental pain over the years), who said something to effect, that your whole world is in your mouth when you have dental pain. Which a statement I identify with despite not caring for his books. That statement nailed it. I’d definitely try and get help, will be thinking of you. Hope you get the pain sorted fast and the treatment continued. 🌷🌷🌷

You need to stay on top of the pain relief. My local pharmacist said it was okay to take paracetamol and then two hours later take Ibuprofen then two hours after that the paracetamol and two hours later the ibuprofen. You can take the maximum recommended dosage of both daily but diclofenac is from the Ibuprofen type of meds so it looks like you are doing this already. Cocodamol is a stronger alternative to paracetamol (but you can't take both) so a visit to which ever pharmacy is open over NY could be worth a visit.

If you have visible facial swelling you need to be seen. I called 111 and this was the advice I was given, I needed to be seen within 12 hours. I had to have the tooth taken out as an emergency, can't fault the NHS - from calling 111 to tooth removal including driving 40 miles was 2 hours.

Antibiotics and painkillers did nothing for the pain. I slept with an ice block strapped to my face - and I'm not even joking.

Call 111 for an emergency appointment, if swelling goes up to your eye or down your neck then you can go to a&e. Use a cold compression, ibuprofen may help with swelling. Toothache is such an awful pain, hope you get it sorted soon x

Try Difflam - it numbs the mouth - fantastic stuff.
Or any ointment with lidocaine in it, such as anbusol.

I had emergency dentist for infection a few weeks qgo, was prescribed an antibiotics and the pharmacy also recommended nurofen mixed with codeine to help, took about 3 days before the pain went away and not had any problems since

Call 111 now, they should be able to give you an emergency appointment tomorrow (I had to do this once over new year). I had to travel out of my area to a hospital. I got told to prop
myself up and not lie flat to keep any fluid from accumulating. I was told to swill with hit salt water but not to put heat in my face externally as this can draw infection into facial tissue. This tided me over until I saw the emergency dentist. The thing is it’s emergency treatment so they will extract the tooth, if you want to save it they’ll say wait till you see your dentist. My mum had an abcess and that was the choice, ‘pull it now to relieve the pain, or wait to see your dentist!’ She was in agony and had been for 3 days so said ‘yank it!’ As her pain started on a bank holiday Friday.