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Original poster

Urgent question about teeth (not the baby kind!)

44 replies

musica · 20/11/2002 22:47

Here's a quick question, about my own teeth! I'm going to the dentist tomorrow, because my wisdom teeth on one side have been really painful for about 5 or 6 days, and I think my gum might be infected - my cheek seems to be swollen, and I've got a sore throat and gums. BUT...I've just found out I'm pregnant, so I'm really worried a)that any infection may have affected baby, and b)that any treatment (e.g. antibiotics, or anaesthesia while treatment is done) might affect baby. Does anyone know anything about this?

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clucks · 20/11/2002 22:54

Dear Musica

It does sound like a lower wisdom tooth problem (or the top one over-erupting and causing trauma to the gum on the lower). In either case it seems that you may have an infection. Unfortunately, the antibiotic of choice, Metronidazole is unsuitable during pregnancy. However, it is possible to take amoxycillin during pregnancy and often this works well too.
I think your dentist will advise you to have the cause of the problem seen to which may require removal of the affected wisdom tooth (if that is what it is). Meantime, start doing some hot,salty, mouthwashes now.. teaspoon of salt in fairly hot (tea temperature) water and bathe the affected area for a few minutes at a time.
Corsodyl mouth wash is also good but disgusting to taste.
Hope you feel better soon. Take care

robinw · 21/11/2002 20:24

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Mog · 21/11/2002 20:46

Musica,
I had a tooth infection while pregnant and was given antibiotics which cleared it up in a few days.

Original poster
musica · 21/11/2002 21:04

Thanks for the advice - I had it looked at today, and the dentist gave me some penicillin, but he said the tooth will have to come out - the top tooth is mashing the lower gum, so I don't know if both will come out or not. Anyway, that will have to wait until after baby - am only 5 or 6 wks at the moment, so it could be a long wait!

OP posts:
Tinker · 15/04/2003 23:00

It's not urgent but didn't want to start a new thread. It's a question for jasper really. I've noticed that the tips of my teeth seem to be becoming transparent. It's probably only noticeable to me but if I put my tongue behind my teeth I can see that the tips then become darker. I don't like it. Is it signifcant? Does it mean I'm horribly diseased? Thank you

judetheobscure · 15/04/2003 23:03

Well mine are the same so I hope it's nothing horrendous.

whymummy · 16/04/2003 08:55

hi musica,i had a bad ear infection when i was 6 weeks pregnant and had to take lots of antibiotics all i could take for the pain was paracetamol wich was useless and i was taking them like sweeties and also i didnt eat for a week i was dead worried about the baby but the pain was too horrific,the baby was absolutley fine so dont worry i can sympathise with you as ive had 2 weeks of terrible tooth ache and a huge abssess so im off to the dentist tomorrow,good luck

robinw · 16/04/2003 19:16

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morocco · 16/04/2003 20:01

Couldn't resist a post about teeth - my fave health obsession - do you all have those horrible dreams about all your teeth falling out etc BTW?

tinker - sounds like you and me maybe have the same thing. I went to the dentist convinced breastfeeding was leaching all the calcium from my bones, starting at my teeth but apparently no - too much fruit juice and fizzy drinks - and I swear I have hardly any - are apparently dissolving thh enamel from the back of my teeth making them look transparent. Solution - less fizz.

While we're on the subject, did anyone else's jaw seem to move during pregancy - mine's only just back to normal 6 months after birth - what was that all about then?

judetheobscure · 16/04/2003 20:08

uh-oh, that's me. Coke-junkie I am. Will have to develop some strong will-power I see. I have just cut back to "no coke before lunch-time" (which sometimes gets interpreted as 12 noon, rather than after eating lunch). I think I'm going to do it gradually. Next step, after the pm school run, I will put into practice after Easter.
Thanks for the warning.

judetheobscure · 16/04/2003 20:11

morocco - I'm sure the wobbly jaw would be down to all the ligaments relaxing in pregnancy.
Btw, fruit juice as well? - I'd just switched to fruit juice with my breakfast (instead of milk, not coke) because I was trying to get in another portion of fruit and veg for "give me 5".

morocco · 16/04/2003 20:17

sorry judetheobscure for the bad news - mind you dentist was not v specific - I think she meant acidic stuff like oj so you might be safe with other fruit - but the coke has to go!
herbal tea anyone?

SoupDragon · 16/04/2003 20:59

Funnily enough, my teeth are the same and I drink no fizz and I don't have excessive amounts of fruit juice of any sort. It must be something else!

Tinker · 16/04/2003 21:53

Gosh, don't drink a lot of fizzy drinks or fruit juice but used to so maybe then? Please, please, please don't say it's wine though!

Rhiannon · 16/04/2003 21:55

Also don't forget to keep the area clean with your brush musica. I know you don't feel like it and it will be sore but it will help.

Definite hot salt mouthwashes will help.

Anyone with bleeding gums keep brushing don't avoid the area that is bleeding.

jasper · 19/04/2003 21:50

Tinker, sorry for the delay in replying, I have not been around for a few days.

First, let me reassure you , you are not horribly diseased.

Decay on the biting edges of front teeth is almost unheard of so don't worry about that.

This area becomes more transluucent for two reasons.
Firstly, the enamel may actually be getting slightly thinner ( wear and tear, too much acidic foods, traumatic bite)

Secondly, as the years go by, the soft pulp in the centre of the tooth "shrinks " back so that the tooth extremities become slightly less hydrated and thus the enamel becomes more translucent.

Don't worry, it is a normal age change.

robinw · 19/04/2003 22:35

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jasper · 19/04/2003 22:47

robinw

Tinker · 22/04/2003 19:39

Thank you (I think!) jasper. What's a traumatic bite??? Eating snails?

jasper · 22/04/2003 22:46

Tinker, brilliant!
No, eating snails comes under "extrinsic tooth wear".(yes, they have a classification for everything)
A traumatic bite is related to the anatomy of your jaws and teeth. Some people , when they bite down, clash their top and bottom front teeth together ;it's just the way their jaws and teeth are aranged but it can lead to excessive wear on the teeth.

Traumatic bite also refers to my one year old's latest breastfeeding habit

clucks · 22/04/2003 23:06

Jasper,

You are a gem. sweet, kind professional not scared of advising people

As a bonding exercise I would like to confess to 4-5mm pocketing and BOP of upper molars. I am disgusted with myself but more concerned with the other end at present... hope you won't judge me.

jasper · 23/04/2003 00:44

Absolutely not Clucks.
The palatal cusp of one of my premolars fractured off during one of my pregnancies. That particular baby is now 2 1/2 and I still haven't had it fixed. Don't tell my old teachers, will you?

I'm just such a boring old fart that I can't switch off at the end of the day.
I even dream about teeth.

SofiaAmes · 23/04/2003 02:07

ok jasper and clucks...it's 2am and i'm jetlagged, so it's time to ask dental questions. I have had two crowns. One is on my last bottom molar and was done 5 or 6 years ago in the usa at great expense (it is also tooth colored) and the other is on my last top molar on the other side of my mouth and was done in london for free on the nhs (metal colored) a few months ago. I find that it is uncomfortable to chew tough things (bagels, tough meat, etc.) with either of them and since I now have one on both sides of my mouth, I have to be careful what I eat. My mother (jewish catholic italian) insists that this is because they were both done incorrectly. I am a bit more forgiving of the abilities of my dentists and suspect that it is due to my teeth grinding. In any case it is making me feel old and decrepit (sp?). Am I doomed to be bagel free for the rest of my life, or is my mother right and can my teeth be fixed?

jasper · 23/04/2003 21:52

sofiaames, what was the reason for crowning them?
Are they root filled?

SofiaAmes · 23/04/2003 23:17

uhhhhh.....I don't know what root filled is, so I guess that means they aren't??? My understanding was that in both cases the teeth had had so much tooth drilled out for fillings over the years that it just developed hairline cracks and that's when it started becoming very sensitive to anything and everything (hard foods, hot, cold etc.). The crown is supposed to hold it all together so it doesn't move when I chew on it...does that all sound right?