To ask for your miracle cures for infected wisdom teeth

[Umph]

I have a partially erupted wisdom tooth that has been coming through for the last few weeks (and threatening to for years - my top two have finally come through in the last year after years of sore gums and slow growth, and now my bottom ones are doing the same). It’s now apparent that the gum has become infected. It was sore on Xmas eve but manageable, worse yesterday, and now the pain radiates into my ear and jaw and is making me want to knock myself out with a hammer.

I have been brushing after each meal, flossing (agony), and rinsing my mouth with salt water. And obviously have taken paracetamol and ibuprofen. Is there anything else I can do?! Obviously it’s going to be a hideously expensive dentist visit at some point but I can’t imagine I’ll manage to get an appointment until the new year.

I have the same issue, recurring. The dentist has referred me to the oral surgery department at the hospital as it’s a tricky extraction (partially erupted) and I have complex health issues. It’s miserable isn’t it. The only thing that works for me is using my nail to dig around the edge of the tooth to relieve the pressure (I know others would say not to do this but hey ho) and often some gunk comes out - lovely 🤢- and then I gargle with corsodyl. Been waiting nearly a year for them to remove it now. No normal dentist will touch it.

If you can afford it, head straight for the nearest private hospital and have the offending tooth removed! I had the same, was in lots of pain, but dentist wouldn't touch it as it needed a surgeon. I was referred to the NHS but faced a very long wait so contacted the local Spire hospital. All done and dusted inside two weeks! Worth every penny to get rid of the pain.

I suffered from this last year, exact same as yours due to a partially erupted wisdom tooth and I can emphasise because the pain was worth than childbirth. I couldn't eat nor sleep. I have no words of wisdom because the only thing that helped me was some antibiotics from the dentist. I managed to get an emergency appointment with my NHS dentist and I think I paid around £40 for both the appointment and antibiotics so it wasn't too expensive!

My dentist is now wanting me to have the wisdom tooth removed because it still hasn't come out fully and is growing at an angle into my molar.

Long story short, can you call your dentist as soon as they re-open? Alternatively get an emergency appointment elsewhere (appreciate you'll pay a lot more for this!)

I get tooth infections from time to time. Corsodyl medicated mouthwash 4 x p/day and hold/swish the mouthwash over the infected area for at least 2 mins. A single tuft toothbrush is great for keeping the area clean, I dip it in the corsodyl first. I hope it clears quickly for you, tooth and gum pain is awful

Why won't the dentist / hospital remove it? You can't keep putting up with pain and taking anti-B's while it decides what to do.

My impacted one was removed 16yrs ago, in an NHS hospital, before it got to that stage. The pain was breathtaking.

You may need antibiotics if the gum is infected, but this can be a recurrent issue with partially erupted wisdom teeth. In a similar situation my DD's dentist advised her to use Corsodyl mouthwash on the gum around tooth on a daily basis using a plastic syringe from Calpol or similar. She had a very long wait for the tooth to be extracted due to covid and this really helped prevent further gum issues in the interim.

You need the the tooth removed and antibiotics in the interim. You could also get paracetamol with codeine from a pharmacy, which you can take with the ibuprofen. Stronger than just the paracetamol.

If it's only just peaking through it sounds like you might have an abscess in the tooth but under the gum. I had this twice this year, both times had to be given a combination of amoxicillin and metrazonadole to knock the infection out (then had to have the tooth taken out thank goodness!)

Don't mess around with teeth infections, it's too close to your brain! Ring 111 to find an out of hours dentist, if you just need antibiotics at this stage it won't cost you that much.

This happens to me now and again and it's agony. Last couple of times I've used a water flosser- about £30 in argosy (seems to flush everything out) and corsodyl mouthwash. Almost immediately relief!

You need antibiotics, but when I had an infected tooth and no dentist, they'd only let me see the emergency dentist once there was visible facial swelling. If you get to the swelling stage it's really important to get the ABs!

Tooth pain is the worst. When this episode is over look into having it surgically extracted, max fax surgeon will do it. Best thing I ever did was having all 4 extracted, the recurrent infections were grim.

Clove oil, failing that diluted, but still strong, tcp on cotton wool packed into the back area of your mouth for as long as you can manage. Or on a cotton bud. Warm salt water gargle. What you really need is antibiotics as everyone has said, but the above have given some relief from abscess pain for me in the past.

Several very hot salty rinses later and it feels significantly better (also think painkillers have actually kicked in). Pharmacy were next to useless. No peroxide or iodine, and no aspirin! Got clove oil and corsadyl and waiting for a call back from 111.

I have a partially erupted wisdom tooth, which has been infected a couple of times. Both times, food had become stuck in the hole and the dentist needed to get it out & give me antibiotics. The relief I felt, the second he dislodged it was immense. His advice was to brush it as much as you can stand to try to dislodge anything that might be stuck in there (there are special pointed toothbrushes too) and use salt water rinses.

Antibiotics. Asap. I had an infected wisdom tooth that turned in to acute necrotising gingivitis - which is about as fun as it sounds.

Ended up in A&E running a high temp and fever.

Orajel gives you a few mins relief

I have no advice for now but when you get to see a dentist ask them to take it out. Only thing that helped with my wisdom teeth as they kept causing pain regularly until each was extracted.

Never , ever use clove oil , particularly on gum area. It is highly acidic and burns , sometimes right through to the bone. Please do not do this.
Also do not put aspirin, crushed or otherwise (as another poster suggested) on gums or around teeth as it also is highly acidic and burns very badly.

Both these suggestions will make things much,much worse.

You are definitely doing the right thing . I had the infection from a tooth abscess go into my jaw some years back and my jaw seized up . Had to have 3 teeth out under general anaesthetic to get to the abscess. Not to scare you - but as a warning how important it is to get these things sorted - aside from the pain .

I've just had this but a few days ahead of you! 111 didn't call me back and my face and neck started swelling up so I ended up going to A and E.
It does say on NHS website that if you start swelling or having difficulty breathing or swallowing or talking to go to A and E. I'm pretty certain.
A and E were great and prescribed antibiotics and codeine. You can take up to 8 codeine a day and six ibuprofen so alternate them so you take something every few hours as PP said. Doctor also said to gargle warm salt water as much as possible, in fact they gave a syringe so I can squirt it right at the infected tooth. They said it needs to come out as soon as possible but not while infected. It's such a pain having something like this happen when so much stuff is shut down.

You need antibiotics. If you contact the dentist they might be able to prescribe without an appointment. Infected wisdom teeth is some of the worst pain I've ever had

I had mine removed on the NHS at hospital under GA so was free.

It hurts but you have to be patient with them. I have one that is not fully erupted and have had pain with it over the last four days. It sometimes hurts for two weeks at a time before easing off for another few months.

A decent mouthwash does help.

I had it one Sunday night, put a tiny amount of whisky in my mouth and held it where the tooth is. Stung to start with but then numbed it. Obviously can't do it all day 😅 but maybe before you go to sleep