26 weeks pregnant and potential tooth abscess

[LunaNova]

Hi all,

Bit of backstory: I have had recurring problems with a particular front tooth and I am currently in the process of being referred to the dental hospital to deal with the underlying issues (referral started in Jan 2019).

Fast forward to now: Sunday Eve I started having niggles in the problem tooth, I've had them before and usually they have been due to sinus issues or a recent cold, however in Jan I had a really bad abscess which resulted in the referral to the hospital starting.

On Tuesday I was concerned about the development of another abscess so I called the dentist to see if I could get an appointment, luckily they managed to fit me in same day. The dentist (not my usual one) had a look and said there was no abscess at that time as no swelling and put it down to a recent cold. She didn't take any x-rays because I'm pregnant and said she didn't want to prescribe antibiotics for the same reason, although said it was ultimately my decision. In the end she recommended waiting to see what happens and booking a review appointment. I have an appointment booked for 6th Jan.

Today the pain seems to have eased a little bit, although it's still there. This evening I've noticed a lump on my gum above the problem tooth so I'm concerned that it definitely is an abscess now.

I don't know whether to ring the dentist tomorrow morning and try to bring the 6th Jan appointment forward or whether to wait it out and see if the pain continues to subside and the lump goes away?

I've got a midwife appointment tomorrow as well but I know the advice will be to visit the dentist. I'm just not sure whether I'm being overly cautious (the abscess in January was hideous and required quite a lot of antibiotics to get rid, the only thing that would relieve the pain then was ibuprofen so obviously I'm worried about the potential pain as well!)

Thanks all!

Hmm.. I had an abscess during my last pregnancy that got infected and I went to an emergency dentist. Similar symptoms, a growing swelling under my gum.
They burst the abscess which was horribly painful & quite disgusting but also fairly instant relief. I was then prescribed amoxicillin & co-codemol. I’d go back for a possible second opinion..!

You can def take amoxicillin in pregnancy. I had 6 rounds last pregnancy, predominantly for repeated cystitis! This pregnancy, I’ve had them for a really bad chest infection & cystitis yet again!

Thanks, I'm so worried as it's my very front tooth (fell on ice as a teenager so it had a bad trauma), I'm probably lucky I've not had any problems before this year (I'm now 29) but they seem to be more common now. Unfortunately my dentist won't root canal it as some of the roots have calcified so I have to wait for the referral to the dental hospital.

I'll call the dentist first thing tomorrow to see if i can get a second opinion, especially as there's now a lump! Hopefully they can fit me in tomorrow morning!

The fear of losing my front tooth is very real haha

I would press on with the dentist. I to have ongoing dental issues (genetic) and had the same on and off pain. It ended up I had horrific nerve pain shooting up my face which lead to me lying on the floor crying. Do not let it go. You’ve enough going on and we can’t take strong enough pain killers and we all know dental pain is the worst. You don’t want your BP going up if it flares badly.

In my case the dentist suspected infected root pulp which wouldn’t show like an abscess. He injected some lidocaine to the site and it eased immediately and went adhead with a root filling. Doesn’t sound nice but far better than recurrent suffering. I would push your dentist for antibiotics, amoxicillin is better than the risk of infection. Xx

Had a root canal (back tooth) fail while pregnant (2nd trimester) and developed an abscess. It is safe to x-ray as long as it's not pointed at the baby. Dentist prescribed amoxicillin as infection can harm the baby. And then took the tooth 😭😭😭 Mine seemed to think it was quite urgent to resolve the infection, so maybe do talk to the midwife and take what she says back to the dentist?

Called the dentist this morning and booked in for Monday as the only appointment they had left today was at the same time as my midwife appointment (typical!).

I've woken up this morning and the pain seems to have gone completely, so fingers crossed it stays that way! The lump is still there on my gum so I presume it has abscessed but I'll keep an eye on it over the next couple of days. I'll mention it to my midwife today to see if she can give any advice about what to say to the dentist so they don't just tell me no on Monday.

Thanks for everyone's help and guidance :)