Increasing pain, soreness and now probable infection after tooth out

[baroqueandblue]

Just over a week ago was told upper right back tooth (next to slanting wisdom tooth) had decay, and probably not a candidate for root canal. Dentist drilled into it, put temporary filling in, sent me away to see what happened. Next day, filling came out. Staggered on for a few days in increasing pain, went back Friday and they pulled the tooth. First 24 hours sore as you'd expect, but managed with paracetamol and soft food and slept ok.

Started salt water rinses late yesterday morning, pain still under control, ate fairly well but obviously not touching the right side of my mouth. This evening I noticed the soreness and pain increasing, took painkiller but no help. Ran my tongue over the top of the tooth next to the gap and realised the tissue felt tender and 'cut'. Horrible taste in my mouth too, and an unpleasant smell. Pain horrendous so took more cocodamol. Dentist had said if things didn't go well I'd have to have antibiotics, but she didn't give me any and they won't see me until Monday at the earliest. I've got some from a course I didn't end up taking last year. Looked online and this type of antibiotic is also used to treat dental infections. I was feeling very hot and my heart was racing so I took 500mg of the cephalexin, as indicated in the online guidance.

After an hour or so the pain and soreness has decreased a fair bit and I don't feel so ill. Has anyone else had an infection following a tooth extraction, and did it make other teeth in your mouth sore? I feel wretched at the moment. Sadly have had quite a few teeth out in my time and this is the worst experience of it I've had. Live on my own so feeling quite isolated with this. Sorry for going on!

Also, forgot to say, I think some of the worst pain is in the roof of my mouth, from where the local anaesthetic went in. Is it the hard palate? Dentist seemed to take ages putting anaesthetic in there, and jabbed it twice. Now it fels like the roof of my mouth is bruised and very sting-y.

I had my wisdom tooth out couple of weeks ago and I developed dry socket, omg it was horrific! That had a horrible smell and taste also x

Sounds like dry socket with or without infection. I've had it a few times and it's horrendous. I would ring 111 and try and get a script today. It takes about 14 days to heal completely, but does become bearable before that. You've basically lost the blood clot so everything is exposed. Ice packs will numb the area, but you need it packing. Packing is ace and is the only thing that will take the pain away.

Yep, was going to say dry socket. If so, it needs medication and decent painkillers. No fun…

I had a back molar out at the start of the year and went on to develop an infection and dry socket. What you are describing sounds classic - pain settles and then increases, horrible taste and pain spreading into other teeth and jaw. I would try 111 for an emergency dental appointment - I had to have it rinsed (not nice) and then packed as well as antibiotics. It felt easier after it had been packed and improved quickly after that.

Thanks for replying everyone. I've slept a few hours and my mouth still feels horrendous. About to take another dose of antibiotic, some cocodamol and do some gentle salt water rinsing. Then call 111.

Clove oil on an earbud was better than painkillers.

I had dry socket after an extraction and it was just like this. The dentist cleaned it out and packed it with a sort of mossy stuff- tasted horrible as I don’t like cloves but the relief was instant. Healed nicely after that.
I’m surprised they won’t see you as an emergency as it’s such a well known complication. I think you should probably call 111 to see if they can advise.

Oops sorry you are calling 111! Anyway, yeah. Do that.

They need to dress it with the stinky stuff 🤮 if you can't be seen ASAP get clove oil from the chemist its vile but works

It's so comforting to get your helpful suggestions! I've got clove oil, can't remember why I bought it but it's a big bottle and organic. So I've got some gauze squares and I'm going to make a pad with clove oil dripped onto it.

Just be careful you don't burn your gum with it less is more!

Good advice from everyone - don't forget to try an ice pack (frozen peas in a teatowel will do) this will numb and reduce the inflammation. Don't leave it there too long. Good luck with 111. Your dentist should have seen you as an emergency, dry socket is horrendous.

You need to go back to your dentist. It sounds like a possible dry socket. Cefalexin is a completely inappropriate first line antibiotic for a tooth infection, and most dry socket does not require antibiotics as it is not an infection. It is very unlikely you would develop an infection so soon after an extraction, and even if there was a residual infection prior to the extraction this does not need antibiotics. You need to see a dentist for possible treatment and they can give you appropriate antibiotics if you need them. If you cannot get into your own dentist call 111 to find an emergency dentist

You had a tooth out 2 days ago. The gum is going to be sore and bruised, if you had any other surgical procedure you would expect the tissue around the site to be sore. An upper molar is a big tooth, the tissues have have expand a fair bit to get it out. The roof of your mouth can get bruised after an injection, again this is all expected.

@OrangeShark27 Thank you for your concern. Unfortunately I'm no stranger to having adult teeth pulled. Most of my top teeth are on a plate, and I've got large gaps in my bottom back teeth. I've had woeful luck with dentists and for years I was such a nervous patient that my teeth weren't being regularly checked. I once needed a letter from a psychotherapist to explain to a new dentist how my previous dental history had affected my mental health. The practice I've been comfortable going to for years has just changed hands and is being turned into a cosmetic dentistry supermarket with medical dentistry as a sideline, from what I can make out. Former staff have deserted it and when I was there last week I didn't recognise a single face, including on reception. The building is being completely altered during opening hours and it struck me that, although the banging and drilling was very disturbing, it drowned out some of the noise from the dentist's drill, which has always unnerved me.

I've lived in places where you took what antibiotics you could get your hands on. More than one GP here, as well as a hospital doctor, have actually said to me "Well if it turns out you didn't need them after all, no harm done." There are peer reviewed papers that you can easily find via Google that state that cephalexin is often used to treat dental infections.

This extraction, the ongoing pain leading up to the botched filling a week prior, the worsening pain and feeling of being increasingly run down after the filling fell out, and the feeling that the dentist who worked on my mouth is probably very newly qualified - all those factors have contributed to a miserable situation that left me feeling very shaky and lonely this weekend. I have continued taking the antibiotic and pain relief today and things are improving gradually. As importantly, I feel more in control, and decided not to call 111 but will be one of the first calls my local practice gets in the morning. They have to fit me in, under the circumstances, and I decided that was better than being shunted over to a completely unfamiliar place today, in the cold, on public transport, and feeling very poorly. Thanks to the reassurance this thread gave me in the early hours, things have improved today. I realise you mean well, and I don't for one second think anyone else should follow my example unless they are prepared to take personal responsibility for any perceived risk.

@OrangeShark27 just updating to say that you were right. The cefalexin helped in a mild way to keep the infection from getting more out of hand, but my dentist has had to prescribe metronidazole since I last posted. I don't like taking it because the side effects are rough on me, but from the first tablet the difference was like night and day. Thank you again for your response, and I also want to emphasise for anyone else reading this that not all antibiotics are equal!