No dental care?!

[Dee96]

In absolute agony cant eat or drink. Face is puffy and now developed a massive abcess on my gum. This tooth needed extracting and I was waiting for a referral to come through. When I called up my nhs dentist they refuse to do any treatment and couldnt give me antibiotics there and then. Luckily I had an old prescription but I'm in so much pain and this just seems to be getting worse. Will the abcess go with the antibiotics or do I need to ring 111. I know they have dental emergency hubs and cant believe my dentist didnt give me the option to go to one considering they know how serve this tooth is and how badly it needs to come out

An abscess will not go. You need to get antibiotics prescribed until this is over

You need to ring nhs direct if your face has swelled. This happened to my husband.

His face swelled right up. You need antibiotics. Today

Big hugs sorry you are going through this right now

I have antibiotics and have taken two but the abcess has just appeared and am doubling over in pain. Painkillers aren't touching it and I don't know what to do

This is something that should qualify for emergency treatment at one of the hubs. Call 111 or your dentist and they should be able to help you access one.

This tooth needs to come out but they wont offer this they only said to take the course and call back If it doesnt work

I’m confused. Did your dentist prescribe your current treatment of antibiotics?

@PurlpleDaisies yes in december I got a prescription for the exact same tooth but never took it as it calmed down. The antibiotics I'm having now are the same ones they wanted to prescribe me today they just weren't to sure because I'm pregnant long story but had to ring the drs to confirm it was okay and by the time I rang back at 3 the dentist had gone home so took matters into my own hands as I knew I couldnt go a day without treatment

Is it worth calling 111 now in so much pain and the abcess seems to be getting bigger

Definitely call. Not in medicine, but you don't want to risk sepsis. Although when I had an abscess the dentist wouldn't extract until the antibiotics had cleared the infection.
Good luck

Where abouts are you? Im in Northern Ireland and I was given antibiotics on Monday for a tooth abscess. Ring back up tomorrow and ask to speak to someone else. There is also emergency centres open to do work that absolutely needs done.

Can you explain what you mean by dentist couldn’t give antibiotics there and then.
Did they offer you antibiotics for your dental infection? Give you pain relief advice? Tell you under what circumstances to phone back?

Yes call 111 they will direct you to emergency dentist

@DottyWott they couldnt give me anything today as they weren't too sure to what antibiotic to give me as I'm pregnant and allergic to amoxicillin. I had to call my gp and get confirmation then by the time I called my dentist back she had gone home so they couldnt prescribe anything. However I had a prescription already for the exact same antibiotic so I went to a chemist and got it today and have taken two out of the 5 day course

I'm just more worried about getting through tonight as nothing is touching the abcess that has come through. Used clove oil corsodyl mouth wash salt water bonjela you name it but nothing Is working currently got an ice pack stuck to my cheek but i can feel the abcess getting bigger

I didnt think they would remove the tooth until the course of antibiotics are done but didnt know if they need to drain an abcess to get rid of it or if the antibiotics are enough to do that. Very scared about the infection spreading

Yes you must call as you are pregnant. Even more so.

Call 111 and explain.

Please let us know how you get on. But you need to ring them,

I have periodontal disease and get abscesses a lot. I can sometimes drain them by using floss in a sawing motion around him of affected tooth, it really hurts but once you open a channel for the pus to escape it helps. These are gum abscesses I’m talking about though and it’s probably not advised but I do know the pain you mean.

Around gum I mean, the aim is to move the gum out to allow drainage. Don’t swallow anything that drains, spit and clean after with salt water. Also again I know this is against standard advice but a hot water bottle rather than ice makes mine drain

Call 111 now tooth problems can get worse very fast

@thequeenbeyondthewall just tried to call and they hung up instead of connecting me through to someone on the phone

Tmi but the abcess popped on it's own and started bleeding. I've rinsed my mouth out with mouth wash and the pain has subsided. Can I just sleep on it and ring my dentist in the morning dont know how urgent this matter is now

I would still ring 111.

Especially because you're pregnant.

The mouth has a lot of blood vessels in it, and it's easy for infection to turn into sepsis in the mouth and cause other infections such as heart infections and so on.

If the abscess has popped on its own they may be able to remove the tooth, but you still need a consult to be sure.

@couchbettato have rang them and waiting for a call back from a specialist. What a nightmare of a time to be getting tooth pain

I just find it crazy, although understandable, that dentist cant offer any treatment. I get that antibiotics may be a first choice for them to avoid contact but my heart really goes out to those who are suffering in agony right now because of this