Toothache

[flibbertigibbert]

I've had terrible toothache for a couple of weeks and went to see the dentist, who prescribed me some amoxicillin. I'm halfway through the 5 day course but my teeth have got even worse. Is this just a sign that the antibiotics are working?

Any suggestions to help things other than salt water rinses and ibuprofen?

I'd think that it's a sign that they're not working. Keep taking them, but ring the dentist if you're still bad tomorrow.

Have you tried alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen? You can take the full daily doses of each of them.

Ugh. Toothache is awful.

Can you get this checked tomorrow.

Get them to do the cold test - if you feel the cold on your tooth it's a sign that the nerve is working & if you don't that the nerve has died.

You could have a dental decay under a filling or in the pulp surrounding the actual nerve. Antibiotics can clear this up but if the nerve hasn't been able to with stand the infection & died you'll need a root canal treatment (nerve canals cleaned and covered and the pulp needs removing as it's decayed & area cleaned. Options on type of tooth covering.

If the tooth is alive & it has a blocked in cavity you might get away with a clean and new fillng.

Keep taking the AB's, alternate ibuprofen and paracetamol and either rub Anbesol or Orajel on the gums/cavities(both are good for toothache).

Hope you get this sorted soon.

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping that the increase in frequency of pain meant that the antibiotics were fighting off the infection, but maybe not.

The pain isn't coming from one particular tooth - it moves around my left side, sometimes it's the upper jaw, sometimes it's the lower one.

Sounds like it would be good to get an xray to see where any cavities might be. Sometimes a cavity under a filling can cause pain alongside the route of the nerve.

rinse every few hours with solt water as well, helps to keep things clean. but definately go back to dentist if now imporvment after a few days on AB's

Hi, this is my first post here, (my username is in response to lots of other forums where people get at me for the sort of cars that their dentists drive.)

To the OP, I work in normal practice and also run an emergency session on Sundays, antibiotics (particularly amoxicillin) are almost never the answer for toothache, usually something has to be drilled or removed to get rid of the cause of the pain. Antibiotics for toothache are like antibiotics for a huge splinter, they may mask the symptoms but they won't sort the cause.

They are usually (in my experience of my emergency sessions) what lazy dentists do when they don't want to drill.

Please go back to your dentist ASAP as I believe this is just a stopgap measure.

As I said, I am a dentist, no information you receive on a website can replace advice given by a dentist who can actually look at your teeth and x rays etc etc, however, I have prescribed amoxicillin once ith the last 12 months for a patient who didn't have a swelling.

Hope you get it sorted.