Horrendous toothache, antibiotics not working

[LillyLeaf]

I went to an emergency dentist and have been given antibiotics. I've been taking them for 4 days and the pain is still so bad I can't eat or sleep. I thought the antibiotics would be helping by now. I'll contact my dentist tomorrow when they open and hopefully they'll be able to see me ASAP. I've also googled that tooth infections and spread to the brain so freaking out about that a bit. Anyone had this happen? Will the antibiotics work? I can't cope with the pain much longer.

I had this last month and it was so painful. I got antibiotics and it was only on the final day that the pain went away. Sorry! Best get checked by your dentist though. Worst pain ever!

The antibiotics should be clearing the actual infection but the pain can be calmed by neurofen/paracetamol/co codomol whatever you have. Everyone I've had these issues (which is a lot!) I have to take strong painkillers for actual pain and antibiotics take away the infection. You might need another course too. Gargle salt water, rub clove oil too you poor thing it'll get better !!!

Everytime*

You may need stronger Antibiotics . I had an abcess last year and was given Amoxicillin which didn't clear the infection. I was then prescribed Metronidazole which are stronger and gargled with salt water and it cleared up quickly along with painkillers. I hope you are better soon its awful.

You poor thing - awful pain. Hope you get an appointment tomorrow and I'm sure all will be much more comfortable then. But to get you through today try and get neurofen extra - you will need to get from pharmacist. That will take the edge off the pain til then.

Did they identify an infection? I had this, also went to the dentist, anti biotics etc but after a few days the pain lessened and half my face dropped and it was actually Bells Palsy and the initial pain comes from the virus on the nerve. I was so surprised as had been preparing myself for an extraction! Steroids within 48 hours of my face dropping so made full recovery. Just thought I’d mention it.

I'm taking paracetamol and ibuprofen as often as I can, it only helps for about 30 minutes then it's back to the pain. Salt water is helping for a few minutes too. God this is awful.

@ParisNext I'm pretty sure they saw an infection but I was pretty distracted at the dentist and I just wanted to get out of there and start taking the antibiotics as I thought they would start working straight away.

If you suspect infection isn’t improving, keep going back.

Meanwhile this stuff is good for the pain:

www.amazon.co.uk/Orajel-2760239-Dental-Gel/dp/B001E1E9D8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=201S0RNUXW4US&keywords=dental+pain&sprefix=dental+pain%2Caps%2C65&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1641205835&sr=8-3

You may need a different type.
On one stint of toothache amoxicillin didn't work for me but metradizanol (sp.) did.
Think it depends on whether the bacteria is anaerobic or aerobic or something.

Try a stronger painkiller. Go to a pharmacy and get co-codamol. You can only take it for three days but it will deal with the pain better than ordinary paracetamol.

Antibiotics take 24-48 hours to get into your system so you should have some relief by now. I do feel for you, toothache is the worst! We advise patients to take 400mg ibuprofen (if able to take. No chest/stomach problems) followed by two paracetamol two hours later. Another 400mg ibuprofen after another two hours and so on. The combination works surprisingly well for toothache. Really hope this helps

Dentists are often reluctant to prescribe Metronidazole initially as it can be a bit tough on your stomach and many people don’t want it at this time of year as you absolutely cannot drink alcohol on them. I know they say that with all antibiotics but it really will make you sick

Same happened to me, my own dentist did some initial treatment and prescribed different antibiotics and those worked.

Do British dentists not lance absesses? I had one treated in Germany and lanced it through the gum which was very effective, no antibiotics. But I've never seen it mentioned on here as an option.

It's the worse pain ever.
Strong painkillers, saltwater gargle, and clove oil was the only thing to help me.
Hope you feel better soon.

I'm already on amoxicillin and metradizanol, I just don't think they are working. I've got salt water in my mouth constantly now, what a mess. And I've been using oragel too.

I also can't take codamol because I'm breastfeeding.

God if the dentist can't do anything tomorrow I don't know what I can do. It's just the worst timing with bank holidays and everything. I'll be on the phone the second the dentist opens.

@helpfulperson

Do British dentists not lance absesses? I had one treated in Germany and lanced it through the gum which was very effective, no antibiotics. But I've never seen it mentioned on here as an option.

Not possible unless it’s a gum abscess. Most dental abscesses are at the root and need to be settled down with antibiotics before treatment is done. OP when you see them they may drill a small hole in your tooth and let the infection drain for a couple of days. With less infection the antibiotics will be able to work better. I really hope you start to feel better soon

Try using coconut oil to do a mouthwash can be done up to 20 mins this will kill bacteria.Try throat spray to spray on the painful area as it will numb the area I've sworn by this in the past

You can take naproxen whilst BF and short term you can also take Paramol which is paracetamol and dihydrocodeine which is preferable to codeine whilst bf as metabolised differently.

The Breastfeeding Network is your friend when it comes to painkillers (they have factsheets on their website covering different types of drugs). I'm still bf my toddler and have a large prolapsed disc in my back so I've been having to take quite a lot of painkillers or I just cannot function!

I hope you feel better soon.

In all honesty- go straight back to your dentist and tell them asap first thing. Not being able to sleep from pain even when taking pain relief and anti-biotics is no joke. A good dental practice will take that seriously.

Been there done that. It is not any fun. Broke a tooth during a cluster headache. Dentist spent over an 90 minutes repairing said tooth. We both thought that would be that and for many weeks all was fine. I woke a few months later with screaming jaw pain that felt like I had been shot. I have chronic migraine and the tooth pain beat even that. The pain level was close to having a cluster headache going on in my jaw. Saw dentist took anti-b's with the aim of treating offending tooth in a weeks time. By day four the pain had even me crying and pleading for help. Called dentist who made an emergency appointmnet and saw me at 8am that day for a full nerve block and estraction. Turned out to be severe none reversible pulpitis that had gone way beyond root canal treatment.

Once the wrecked tooth was removed the anti-b's worked and the pain went down to feeling like I had been punched rather than shot. Took a couple of days to settle down enough so I could sleep again. No problems since.

I went through this a couple of weeks ago, was also on amoxicillin and metronidazole due to an infection which wasn’t working, so I had the tooth extracted. Don’t mean to scare you but the post operative pain was horrific as it was a difficult extraction, so just be prepared for this. It settled after a week.
Tooth pain is awful, I hope you get sorted soon

I know I need to tooth out, I've put it off for too long now. I hope they can do it tomorrow but I am worried about the pain after. I need to go to work and get some sleep. Thanks everyone, sorry you've all been through this. I never want to experience this pain again.

Tooth is out and I'm enjoying the numb feeling for a few hours.

Glad you managed to get to the dentist**@LillyLeaf** hope that's the end of your suffering.