Wisdom tooth agony!

[BiBiBirdie]

I have awful teeth, utterly awful and seem to manage however hard I try to end up with terrible, uninterested dentists. I've been told I have severe gum issues and am likely to lose my teeth down to it. They're not loose as yet though. All this despite looking after my teeth and regular dentist visits.

When I went recently, I told the dentist that I thought a wisdom tooth was coming through bottom left. She took no notice and said as I am 38, my wisdom teeth must have already come through by now as they do by the time you are 25 at the latest I told her I knew only one had, top right as the bastard got stuck when the (only lovely one I've ever had) dentist tried to remove it and he was so upset at how painful it must be for me.
She told me I was clearly wrong.

Anyway, woke up at 3am in excruciating pain with the wisdom tooth I told her was coming. There is a flap of gum that has partially come away but it's red and inflamed.

They open some Saturdays so I rang to be told that yes, they are open, but no, I may not have an appointment as I'm an NHS rather than private patient. I begged the woman to allow me to come in down to the Dentist's error but she would not allow it. I was told to ring Monday.

I tried 111, to be told as I have a dentist and they are booked to kingdom come with people unable to get on dentists books in the area (it's a big town) I'm not a priority.

By this afternoon, it is now clear it's infected as nasty gunk has come out from the flap.

I've been salt water rinsing and taking ibuprofen but other than that and bongela, does anyone have any ideas? Is the infection a serious concern?

Any help would be gratefully received

hi Birdie,I had a similar problem, my dentist prescribed the antibiotics and referred me for tooth removal. I used corsodyl until I had seen the dentist. i hope you will get the help you need

I second the corsodyl it works miracles! And I’m 32 and haven’t all my wisdom teeth yet, in fact one is starting to rear it’s ugly head you can see it starting to come through! I feel sorry for you having to see such a bad dentist and also having an infection, it’s the worst!!!

It's so sore!

Im also petrified (I have health anxiety) that as there is gunk coming out of it, I could end up with sepsis (I know it's unlikely but it's the anxiety that makes me think it).

I'm wondering if I ring 111 and see if a normal out of hours GP could/would give antibiotics?

I will ring the dentist as soon as they open Monday but she said there was no guarantee of an appointment. I would switch but it's impossible round here.

I have Corsodyl toothpaste so have been using that anyway, I will otherwise grab some of the mouthwash tomorrow.

The taste is revolting but I'm keeping it clean as soon as more makes an appearance

Another vote for Corsodyl and carry on with the salt water too.

And, I am 53 and only got my bottom left wisdom tooth last year!

You might manage the antibiotics from the GP, I managed to get some from an NHS walk in for wisdom teeth flare up some years ago. Keep up with the hot salt water rinsing. It will help with the infection and keep the area clean. Corsodyl mouthwash is also brilliant. For pain remember you can take paracetamol with Ibuprofen and Boots also do Ibuprofen with Codeine - speak to the pharmacist, they're usually really good at advising on dental pain. I had to see an emergency dentist about a year ago on a Saturday afternoon in agony and the appointment was about £120 (in London) for a few minutes - they were't able to do much except x-ray, tell me what was going on and prescribe antibiotics to tide me over until I saw my own dentist but it felt like a miracle at the time. Dental pain is a shocker, but it'll all get sorted out, hang on in there.

Thanks all
I will see whether it has calmed down in the morning, as no more gunk is coming from it for now. If it all starts up again I'm going to call 111 back in the morning.

Glad to hear I wasn't wrong on wisdom tooth age though.

Pericoronitis - you need antibiotics and the dentist will apply a corsodyl type solution straight into the area as antiseptic.

Your dentist was wrong about wisdom teeth only coming through by 25, although I don't know how they would get it wrong as they'd be able to see it coming through in your mouth? However even if your wisdom tooth was coming through they aren't going to do anything, you aren't having this problem because of the dentists mistake

You have pericoronitis, inflammation of the gum caused by food/plaque trapped underneath.

You don't necessarily need antibiotics, you just need it cleaned out by a dentist. In the mean time try and see if you can clean out under the flap of gum. A waterflosser is good for this and you can either get saltwater or corsodyl underneath it.

Hi all
Managed to get an appointment this morning

Saw a different dentist in the same practice, who was actually far more professional and interested.

She took a look and said I had done the right thing by taking ibuprofen, and salt water rinses, as well as taking a small swab and cleaning the surface gunk.

Yesterday, a big lump of gum came away too which was both stupidly painful but did calm the pain a bit.

The dentist was quite surprised that her colleague said what she did regards the wisdom tooth, as she could see it on the x-ray taken last time. She is going to raise this with her manager.
She has given me antibiotics, as she could see the inflammation and her concern is that as the wisdom tooth has been left, an abscess has formed and she could see how swollen it was. Her concern was it spreading. She has told me if it gets hot, or worse, go to A+E
She also said the wisdom tooth will have to come out but due to the last one getting stuck a few years back, she will recommend I have if taken out at the specialist at my local hospital. She said though it should be fine for now and the antibiotics should calm it all down shortly.

They're very strong antibiotics according to my pharmacist so they shouldn't take long.

But toothache, I would have happily hit myself with a shovel if someone had of told me it would stop it hurting

So glad you're getting it sorted now - and hope you don't have to wait too long for your hospital appointment. I've still got my wisdom teeth in a jar!

I will put mine in one when they get taken out. Evil things!