Any dentists/ pharmacist/ doctors- meds advice please.

[Orchidflower1]

DH has got a nasty infection in a large molar. Been prescribed metronidazole this morning. He has taken all of the antibiotics for today. He now has two immediate problems.....

1. Since the early hours he has taken 3 doses of ibuprofen ( so no more as maximum it says on packet) and 5 doses of paracetamol ( so def no more as that’s one more than he should have). Is there anything else he can take / do to relieve pain until early hours when he can take more meds?
2. He says the pain is worse than this morning - dm says antibiotics can make pain worse ( not sure if that’s and old wives tale). He is almost crying in pain and save for dc birth and funerals of dgp he never cries!

Any advice would e great!

Codeine- if you can get any without paracetamol (?111?) I would replace paracetamol with co-codamol at next dose.

Tooth pain is hideous.
Ps not a dr.

Heat? I'm a big believer in clove oil make a you gag but numbs the pain

Warm salt rinse and repeat then dab with clove oil

Thank you. I’m not sure if you can get codiene on its own. It’s also a case of what I can get in Tesco! I’ll get some co codamol for tom.

Will try the clove oil. Thank you.

Clove oil does numb the area but only for a brief time. Codeine can only be bought in combination with paracetamol (co-codamol). It has to be purchased in a pharmacy (a Tesco with a pharmacy would have it). So from tomorrow either replace the paracetamol with co-codamol or replace the ibuprofen with Ibuprofen+dihydrocodeine which is a bit stronger. But for tonight just clove oil or any local anaesthetic oral gels. Good luck.

Thank you bundlebuns

Orajel in a little red box is really good for toothache, there's a max strength one. Other than that possibly switch the next dose of paracetamol to some co-codamol over the counter. It should help a bit more with the pain.

As a back up (if you don’t have Clove oil tonight) I’ve found putting plenty of toothpaste on the infected area numbs it a bit.

My sympathies to him, nothing worse than toothache, it’s relentless, it makes me feel really down mentally.

I also found sitting in the garden in the cold helps, sounds weird but I’ve found myself many a night walking up n down the back garden in the small hours for relief.

I'm survive read on mumsnet before that some sort of cold pack held to the affected area is the thing to do (I always used to apply heat but that seems to be wrong)

If he can get whiskey or vodka and swirl it around his mouth, especially over the tooth, let it sit there as long as possible to soak down, then this gets right down into the nerve and should help until the antibiotics start working (they can take up to 3 days in my experience)

This does work. (If it doesnt, then at least he can start drinking it to help with the unbearable pain) good luck.

He shouldn't drink with metronidazole as it will make him feel really ill.

Do not even swill the mouth with alcohol when taking metronidazole

You can get codeine on it’s own, on prescription.

Sorry i was joking about drinking it!

Orajel, neurofen plus (its stronger than cocodamol) and salt rinces.

Actually ignore my posts completely about the alcohol. Sorry again.

Neurofen plus has ibuprofen and codeine in, so only take after ibuprofen dose worn off. Still maintain you’re better getting separate codeine so you can space them out.

Thank you all for the advice. Our house smells beautifully of clove oil!! He tried the clove oil and it did help but made him dribble loads( sorry if that’s tmi!). Cold pack really helped so thanks for those ideas. He finally fell asleep with one of sticky cold patches on his face( those ones you stick on your forehead for a temperature). Thank you all for the ideas and moral support.

Hope he is feeling better op

Thank you abbs he is taking less painkillers now and I think antibiotics kicking in. He’s got to decide whether to have them out or two root canals.

I've had two root canals one was a pain in the arse and broke repeatedly and I had to have it removed under sedation the other one is still ok after 19 years (fingers crossed)