# Anyone know much about dental issues?



## NicksWifey (May 30, 2008)

Hi all, I've been in pain since Tuesday evening with my one of my lower teeth & the gums in that area. The pain has been unbearable and made me leave early from one job and call in sick for the other. I had an emergency appointment to see my dentist this afternoon and she took xrays, felt around, poked around and nothing showed up on the xrays. Everytime she tapped the one tooth, it killed me. Everytime she poked at my gums around that tooth, it bled instantly. She didn't see any decay of the tooth and doesn't think it's an abscess.
She gave me a prescription for Penicillin, because she thinks I may have some kind of infection in my gums, but has no idea what it is. As far as meds go, I don't like high powered pain pills, so I've just been taking Aleve. I've been putting Orajel on the area and have been doing frequent saltwater rinses, but NOTHING seems to ease the pain
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Is anyone here a dental student or hygenist or know anything about teeth in general?


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## user79 (May 31, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *NicksWifey* 

 
_Hi all, I've been in pain since Tuesday evening with my one of my lower teeth & the gums in that area. The pain has been unbearable and made me leave early from one job and call in sick for the other. I had an emergency appointment to see my dentist this afternoon and she took xrays, felt around, poked around and nothing showed up on the xrays. Everytime she tapped the one tooth, it killed me. Everytime she poked at my gums around that tooth, it bled instantly. She didn't see any decay of the tooth and doesn't think it's an abscess.
She gave me a prescription for Penicillin, because she thinks I may have some kind of infection in my gums, but has no idea what it is. As far as meds go, I don't like high powered pain pills, so I've just been taking Aleve. I've been putting Orajel on the area and have been doing frequent saltwater rinses, but NOTHING seems to ease the pain
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Is anyone here a dental student or hygenist or know anything about teeth in general?
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 
Well, penecillin is not a pain killer, its an anti biotic. So if you have an infection, it kills the bacteria which is causing the infection. Make sure you don't have a penicillin allergy, it's pretty common. I would take the penecillin and then see what happens after, if the pain continues I'd go back for a 2nd opinion or another dentist.


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## frocher (May 31, 2008)

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## benzito_714 (May 31, 2008)

i am not a student of dentistry i am just a dentist office regular.lol. but i would definitely get a second opinion and even check out gum diseases like gingivitis-that can usually make your gums bleed.


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## NicksWifey (May 31, 2008)

Thanks everyone. The pain hasn't went away and I took 2 Pencillin for the infection last night and so far, 2 today. I have been taking lots of Aleve but still no relief from the pain.

There's no "urgent care" around here or anything like that and I already work at the hospital and know there's no one on call who takes care of dental issues in the emergency room. I guess I'll have to wait until Monday


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## NatalieMT (May 31, 2008)

Oh dear it sounds like how my dental problems started in February. Went to the dentist in a lot of pain it was absolutely excruitiating - they took xrays and nothing showed up but whenever they tapped/touched the tooth I'd scream. I ended up losing my job too because I couldn't work in such pain and the tooth did start the abscess. I've now done 4 courses of antibiotics and started having a root canal. The root canal hasn't gone well because the root canals are filled with pus and unfortunately the infection is particularly resistant and I'm still in a lot of pain - on dihydrocodeine (high dose!). I'm waiting for my next appointment on June 10th to see if the root canal can be finished or whether the tooth is on it's way out.

The symptoms you're describing sound particularly similar, but I hope for your sake you're not in same boat as me. I'd suggest you go back to the dentist or try and see another dentist for a second opinion. You really need to get this sorted and fast by the sounds of it!


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## nikki (May 31, 2008)

Hi---I'm actually a dentist.  Continue the penecillin your dentist gave you.  Antibiotics do not get rid of pain, only infection.  The pain is not going to go away until the infection is reduced enough to no longer cause pain.  This means it can take a few days before you notice pain relief after taking beginning any antibiotic.  Also, if your pain does not go away after you have taken all of your penecillin---you will most likely need a root canal.  Just because the tooth has never had a cavity---does not mean the tooth could never need a root canal.  I have had several patients that needed a root canal on a perfectly "good looking" tooth.  Just because nothing shows up on the xray, it doesn't mean the tooth is not dying.  It just means that the infection has not caused a lot of damage to the bone around the tooth.  An abcess that can be seen on an xray is actually like a hole created in the bone from pus.
Just be sure that you take the entire prescription of antibiotics so that you do not have a problem with the bacteria becoming resistant.
I hope this helps!!

Also---going to the ER will not help.  If you are having enough pain to completely ruin your weekend---you need to get in touch with your dentist and see if they either 1)will meet at the office to possibly start a root canal or 2) call a prescription of painkillers in to your pharmacy and see you Monday morning. HTH


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