In agony with toothache & housebound, help please.

[Nat6999]

I'm housebound with severe mobility problems, haven't been able to get to the dentist in ages. Was eating my tea tonight bit on a tooth that has been a bit dodgy but not painful for ages & gone through the roof. I can't even touch it with my tongue now, what do I do to get to see a dentist? I've taken Ibuorofen & codeine based painkillers but over 2 hours later got no relief.

tooth pain is awful. Phone your dentists number. Ours has a message explaining what to do (they are seeing people in pain despite Covid). If you live in a biggish place there might also be an out of hours number. In the meantime, does anyone you know have some clove oil that they could drop round? It's the only thing that worked for me when I was banging my head against the wall with tooth pain.

PS I believe dentists can do home visits to housebound people, just like doctors (I may possibly have dreamed this, though!)

What dosage of ibuprofen have you taken and is there any reason you can’t take up to 600mg? Gently Rinse with warm salt water. Have a shot of whiskey? Get an emergency dentist appointment or get some antibiotics until you can get an appointment.

If you have any vodka, apply some with a cotton bud, or swill round your mouth. Then drink a shot... it was the only thing that helped me until I got to see a dentist after a bank holiday weekend. The dentist had to kill the nerves.

I've taken 400mg of Ibuprofen & 60mg of dihydracodeine, that was 2 hours ago, I might risk another Ibuprofen, luckily I take fairly strong pain relief for my other health conditions & know where I can push the boundaries of doses. I don't want to use alcohol, I'm over 3 years clean from drinking & want to stay that way. If I can just survive until morning, I can ring around then to try & get some help, I've also got the district nurse coming tomorrow, she may be able to help me get something sorted.

You can use a cold pack or ice pack on the jaw nearest the tooth.

Your region will have a domiciliary dental service, and I would suggest that 111 is most likely to be able to point you towards it. Your GP may also know how to access it. It is unlikely to be out of hours, though.

If neither of those work, try NHSE's Customer Contact Centre or your local healthwatch - details at www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/dentists/how-to-find-an-nhs-dentist/

Oh no, I hope you can see a dentist very soon. Have you tried rinsing your mouth with warm salt water?

You have my sympathies. Toothache is just awful.
Dentists are still seeing urgent cases. Hopefully someone will be able to come to you if you are housebound.

Call 111 for an emergency dentist.

Put some baby bonjela/ teething gel on it to numb the pain

Any bonjela, clove oil or anything else numbing? Saline rinses. Avoid sugar. Sensitive toothpaste can help a little.

I found ibuprofen and paracetamol to be the magic bullet for pain from an abscessed tooth. Dentist recommended it. It worked. Codeine was useless.

Tooth pain is horrendous. I was suggested to use an ice cubes but ended up using frozen peas as there was nothing else in the freezer - keeping them in my mouth around the sore tooth for 3-4 min, spitting out, repeating - for just under an hour I think - it did help.

I'd take paracetamol on top of what you have taken ( unless nedically not suitable) Ice packs are also useful.

Im pretty sure dentists dont do home visits. Practices are operating differently. Some will offer antibiotics/pain relief. Most nhs dentists are not doung fillings or root canal treatment. A lot of ppl are getting teeth pulled as the only option to get rid of pain.

Salty water -painkillers-clove oil - icepacks -and much sympathy!

Definitely do not drink alcohol...it’s loaded with sugar and will aggravate the pain !! Call a dentist or gp tomorrow and get antibiotic cover . Use paracetamol and ibuprofen for pain relief. Hope you feel better soon ...I had the same in February....bloody awful 💐X

Rang the dentist at 9.00am this morning, dentist rang me back within 10 minutes, I had to get a taxi up the road to the surgery, my tooth was out by 10.20am. Dentist had a battle to get it out because it broke up, but it finally came out. Feeling a bit bruised & battered but the pain isn't anywhere near as bad as it was overnight, so I'm taking painkillers every 4 hours.

I have been bedbound for nearly 8 years and have dental home visits. However, all they can do is a check up. My home dental service will not do tooth removal at home, unfortunately. They would offer an ambulance which is no good to me as travel increases my symptoms.

I believe there are a few private dental services that will do home visits and tooth removal. Sorry tooth pain is the worse. Oral gel may take the pain down a notch whilst you are waiting to get it sorted.

Sorry missed your final post. Glad you have been able to get to the surgery and have it removed.