I can get rid of this infection without antibiotics, right?

[PoisonRain]

I have a gum infection. Not a tooth abscess, just a bit of gum over a partially impacted wisdom tooth that has become irritated then infected.

I've never had a dental infection before - my dentist gave me metronidazole but I don't want to take it. Everyone I've mentioned it to pulls a face and says it makes you feel dreadful. I've been rinsing frequently with warm salty water, using a cold compress and taking paracetamol - it's unpleasant and I don't feel great, but it's bearable (not like a toothache).

If it's no better in 48 hrs I suppose I'll have to woman-up and brave the drugs, but it's not unreasonable to see if I can clear it myself first is it?

I've taken metronidazole and had no issues. Just stay off alcohol.

To 'can't be bothered with a username' I'm interested to know how you're qualified to override the advice given by a registered medical (dental) practitioner. Especially as you've never seen the OP and have no idea of any other relevant info about her. As another poster said, if salty water was sufficient, the dentist would have advised this and not written a prescription.

Then she needs to discuss that with the professional who is treating her

I had an infection in my jaw once. It came on without any apparent problem in any particular tooth, and it cleared up with antibiotics, so I can only suppose it had something to do with the bruxism (nocturnal teeth-grinding) that the dentist was also treating. The pain, which was horrendous, was certainly very much like the neuralgia-like pain I had from bruxism.

@ArtTheClown bottom teeth for me. My top teeth were easy and could be done by my usual dentist. I think bottom ones tend to be trickier in general.

As long as you heed staying off the booze you'll be fine.

Take the ABs..

Not all emetophobes experience contamination OCD (just as an aside!).

I managed a 10 day course fine. No major issues. I didn't touch a drop of alcohol though, even food with wine in sauce etc.

Main problem as it were is I struggled to take it. I can take tablets normally no problem but this one just wouldn't go down in water. I ended up taking it with diet coke as that helped. I'm also allergic to penicillin.

If you aren't immunocompromised then often you can but no guarantee! I did recently, I was too disorganised to call at 8am to get the prescription, instead I put up with pain for 3 weeks

Just to add you've been given them because you need them, at a level you needed when they saw you. There's different doses and course lengths. If you delay because you're scared and it gets worse you could end up with it not working and needing more treatment with much worse drugs!

Bottom right one for me

I took optibac probiotics to prevent thrush when I was taking the same antibiotics. Not sure if it's related but I didn't have any nausea either.

@Bunnycat101 and @LemonadeQueen thanks. DH was warned about being near nerves when his top one was taken out recently. I also had my bottom two hacked out of my jaw a few years ago and wasn't warned about anything like that, luckily all went smoothly though.

I guess they just had to cover themselves and explain the risks but hard choice either way. Glad all went well for everyone though.

If you have the problem again, try taking with a small amount of food. I really struggle with swallowing tablets and was given this advice by a doctor I worked with. He said that even the take on an empty stomach tablets can be taken this way provided that its a small amount of food and the stomach is empty.

Well, thanks everyone for the contributions, it's sparked some debate clearly. Sorry to all those frustrated that I "wasn't taking medical advice" - but I wasn't ignoring it, I was simply delaying due to anxiety. I planned to start the antibiotics today (or this evening) if it was no better, as the rational part of my phobic brain was competing quite well with the irrational part thanks to your reassurances about the metronidazole.

But - I got a better night's sleep last night as the pain was subsiding, and since first thing this morning it has continued to improve quite dramatically. I was able to brush it a little and held some Corsodyl on it for a good 3 mins (something emerged when I spat that out?), then continued with hot salt rinsing today - this evening I'd say it's at least 70% better.

Unless it suddenly deteriorates again I'll save the antibiotics for the next time...although I'll catch it earlier next time, now I know what's coming.

@PoisonRain don't apologise for how your anxiety is making you feel! I've just taken my first tablet tonight for my gum infection..... I can keep you updated if you like.

I too suffer great anxiety ... anxiety incase I'm ill... anxiety when taking new tablet ... it's a vicious circle!! Xx

If you have no facial swelling then generally antibiotics are not required with pericoronitis (where the gum around a wisdom tooth becomes inflamed). Usually pericoronitis is inflammation of the gums not an actual infection.

Did the dentist clean the area? The treatment is to clean under the gum to remove the source of inflammation which is usually trapped food. If you can get the salt water under your gum to flush it out your symptoms should settle

If you start to get more swollen then obviously take the antibiotics. But most dental infections should be managed with treatment either extraction of the offending tooth or debridement and not just have antibiotics chucked at them. If your pain is settling then I would continue as you are

I left a very mild barely irritating infection to chance as I don't manage well on antibiotics.

I woke up one morning with all my face swollen up on side, it had ballooned and my eye was swollen shut. 3 days in hospital on a drip, they had to cut my gum to drain the abcess. I was lucky it wasn't worse and it was still horrific.

None of this was visible at first, I felt ok, but you never know what's lurking under neath. And it will be a lot worse than the side effects of the antibiotics.

This makes sense and he definitely used the term pericoronitis - he barely even looked at it and certainly didn't clean it.

I have a suspicion that I finally cleared something out from under it this morning, hence it is now 70% better and improving all the time. It's annoying because I have quite a militant regime of brushing, flossing and using tepe brushes as well - my dentist said I'd always kept it clean hence it's never bothered me. But I suppose there's always a first time.

So yes the treatment for pericoronitis is debridement under the gum, and usually doesn't need antibiotics. Unless you are unwell with the infection or develop facial swelling antibiotics are not indicated. Obviously I haven't assessed you so cant say for definite you don't need antibiotics but if your pain is settling, you don't have a temperature and you aren't swollen then I would hold off. Perhaps get a second opinion from a different dentist tomorrow if you were still experiencing symtpoms. If he didn't look at you I don't know how he can determine you need antibiotics, and if he didnt carry out a basic treatment I would question his reasoning

It's usually a bit of food just gets wedged under or a some plaque. It's not that your cleaning regime is poor its just very tricky, you can use something like a water flosser or orthodontic single tufted brush to clean under the flap. If it happens once it doesn't mean it's going to happen again.

There's a lot if scare mongering on this thread, but taking antibiotics when not necessary will contribute to antibiotic resistance. In the future its probably better to seek a second opinion rather than not take antibiotics prescribed, but also question if a dentist hands you antibiotics without offering treatment. Because even if there's is a big abscess antibiotics alone often will not sort the problem