From tooth sensitivity to soreness to...

[tcsenter]

DAAAMMM. Had a tooth that was bothering me for a couple months, sensitivity to cold/hot and sweet/sugar, but not painful or sore otherwise. In a week progressed to some pain when chewing or biting, then to pain and soreness even when not chewing or any pressure on it, but not bad or anything. In the last 24 hours really started hurting, throbbing, swelling in the cheek, in the oral tissue covering the jaw directly below the tooth, so I started self-medicating with some antibiotics (exact same thing the dentist would have done), applying a hot compress on and off today. Even the lymph node under the jaw was swollen. Took a Tylenol and went to bed.

Began to stir around a couple hours later, dreaming that my leg was itching and I couldn't quite reach it. Pretty sure it was a dream, anyway. Reach a little further, not quite there, extend a little further and finally.....AARRROOUUU! Shooting pain in my tooth, which wakes me up real fast. I can feel with my tongue there is something going on with the tooth, it feels different, like there is an edge on it. So I get out of bed and head to the bathroom. Half-way there I breathe in and am smacked by a foul STANK coming from my breath and mouth. Horrible stank that almost triggers my gag reflex.

I spit into the sink and it was bloody, both fresh and some recently clotted blood. My tooth is pounding and I try to inspect it in the mirror. There is blood coming out of the tooth! And some more STANKY odor. The tooth apparently had a crack in it this whole time. It was on the back or tongue side so I couldn't see it, didn't feel anything either. But a small chunk of my tooth finally fell off, providing an opening for the infection to drain out. Which is a good thing, better that the infection and pus comes out rather than infiltrating deeper.

Feels hella better now, too. Swelling is going down. I doubt the tooth can be saved, looking at the exposed part closely with a travel mirror and flashlight, looks like there is decay going right to the center and toward the root. We shall see later today I guess.

 

[Torn Mind]

Well, looks like your diet led to a cavity which then led to the infection. A Periapical abscess, which is different from a periodontal abscess; I got the latter.

Which antibiotics? It's usually amoxicillin they prescribe you first.

To prevent another of your pearly whites expiring....you need vitamins A+K2+D3.
Get yourself some grass fed butter, red salmon, and some pasture-raised eggs. Or supplement K2. Eat with a healthy fat like olive oil, as these are fat soluble vitamins.

Your tooth could be fixed up with maaybe a root canal and filling.

 

[pcgeek11]

A couple of months? Damn. That type of infection can kill you esp if it is a upper molar, easy path right into the brain via the sinus.

Don't wait for later. Get your ass to a dentist asap. Time is not your friend here.

 

[Ken g6]

The tooth apparently had a crack in it this whole time.

That likely means no root canal would work. A tooth cracked down to the root has to be pulled. I had one of those. I eventually got a dental implant. It's nice, but really expensive. If it wasn't a rear molar a bridge might work too.

 

[mindless1]

If I have a tooth bothering me, I try to recall what I ate, in case something fibrous might've gotten lodged in the gum. I brush and floss and give it a day.

If no better after a day, or even sooner with significant inflammation, I start swishing hot, strong saline solution. If that does not help, it's time to see a dentist. Once I saw the blood and the stink of infection, I'd gargle with hydrogen peroxide, just to slow things down till I got to see a dentist ASAP.

By the time a lymph node is swollen, time to get into whatever emergency dental service is available if your primary dentist can't fit you in or you're located too far away to get there the next day at the latest.

 

[tcsenter]

Which antibiotics? It's usually amoxicillin they prescribe you first.

I have the antibiotics! Cephalexin, amox, clavamox, clindamycin, doxycycline, and metronidazole.

Hydrogen peroxide on a cracked tooth with nerve exposed (or fissure/path to it) is not a good idea. I've been there, when the peroxide finds it's way to an already irritated nerve ending, is hellish experience. Very warm salt water rinse/gargle is sufficient.

Still taking antibiotics, all swelling is gone, tooth is hardly sore at all now. Have an appt tomorrow. If it will be more than $400 to save it, going to have it yanked.

 

[Torn Mind]

Chlorhexidine is usually the big killer mouthwash if all else fails.

They threw everything but the kitchen sink for your antibiotics regiment.

 

[tcsenter]

They threw everything but the kitchen sink for your antibiotics regiment.

No I meant I already have those antibiotics at home in my stash, along with this wonderdrug "antiviral"....



Just kidding! About the antiviral part, not about possessing it.

 

[mike8675309]

By the time you feel pain, the tooth is often very close or at the need for a root canal. Regular dental checkups are the only way to stay ahead of carries that can become big issues.

 

[Gardener]

I've got a cracked molar, but the crack doesn't extend down to the root, so I got by with a crown.

That pain you experienced was the pulp getting increasingly irritated by the crack which allowed liquid hot/cold/sweet into close proximity, later infection set in. Good luck, hope your dentist can save it with a root canal and crown. Last I checked an implant was 15k.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Last I checked an implant was 15k.

Might be cheaper to take a vacation to a third world country and pay a dentist there, maybe for half the cost, including the trip expenses!

 

[tcsenter]

Might be cheaper to take a vacation to a third world country and pay a dentist there, maybe for half the cost, including the trip expenses!

Must have been a typo or different currency than US dollar. Implants are about $2400 ~ $2600 each unless you need the bone grafting, which adds $300 to $400. If you need anesthesia services like sedation, it will add more. Obviously doing ad hoc implants one at a time as you go (lose a tooth) is going to be more $$ cumulatively than scheduling/planning to do six or eight as one treatment plan.

 

[Gardener]

I need a memory implant. Maybe it was 5k for the implant + crown for my dad.

 

[Torn Mind]

I am close to losing a tooth(weak attachment due to periodontitis but still in) but I might as well see if a major dietary shift(ongoing for about two years) can preserve it.

Somehow, I never got cavities nor my sister. My sister somehow had no cavities or periodontitis despite 15-20 years of not seeing a dentist.

Could be genetic but it also could be she ate eggs and cheese while I did not.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Somehow, I never got cavities nor my sister. My sister somehow had no cavities or periodontitis despite 15-20 years of not seeing a dentist.

Could be genetic but it also could be she ate eggs and cheese while I did not.

You have good oral bacteria. You may want to consider french kissing people for a fee, to transfer your oral flora to them for better oral health

 

[WilliamM2]

Stop using toothpaste. It kills the protection of your teeth. Use only water and a toothbrush. And you'll be happy.

Where do people come up with garbage advice like this?

 

[pcgeek11]

Stop using toothpaste. It kills the protection of your teeth. Use only water and a toothbrush. And you'll be happy.

Uhhh, No.

You dentist will be happy for the work and income from you.

 

[Gardener]

Stop using toothpaste. It kills the protection of your teeth. Use only water and a toothbrush. And you'll be happy.

The American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste for two minutes each time.

 

[snoopy7548]

It's Torn Mind's sister!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Food that has been trapped under the gum, maybe in a recess left be initial decay, will continue to rot and cause an abscess or infection.

My joke about this is as follows: Blush and Fross daily!

On a serious note, buy a WaterPik or other water-flossing machine. (Electric toothbrushes also come highly recommended, but I still prefer the manual approach). The water-flossing should make up for the less efficient methods of brushing. Particularly, use 50-50 Listerine and water or 50-50 Hydrogen Peroxide and water with the water-flosser.

On the rear teeth, try to brush or floss to clean out the very backs of the rear teeth. An abscess may be a sign of something worse, or something worse to come -- maybe a root canal?

Once in a while, in your plan with your dentist, obtain what is known as "deep cleaning". And if you follow my water-floss advice, you shouldn't ever need to have it done again. Get a hygienic cleaning and X-Ray every six months. Get on top of fillings early, to prolong the time before you need a crown, root-canal or transplant. The scale for those latter operations runs from $1,000 to $3,000 for a year's visits to get an implant.

Do whatever you can do to stave off expensive dental work, but engage with a good dentist, get an annual schedule or plan set up, keep something aside in savings to cover unpredictable aspects of dental work, and get a good dental insurance policy like Delta. At minimum, Delta will cost you about $60/month. The older you get, the more useful the insurance. Insurance should pay cleanings and X-Rays for free at two per year.

 

[Muse]

I am close to losing a tooth(weak attachment due to periodontitis but still in) but I might as well see if a major dietary shift(ongoing for about two years) can preserve it.

Somehow, I never got cavities nor my sister. My sister somehow had no cavities or periodontitis despite 15-20 years of not seeing a dentist.

Could be genetic but it also could be she ate eggs and cheese while I did not.

I think likely genetic. I was "wow" when my ~60+ YO dentist told me he'd never had a cavity. He said his mother was the same.

First thing I'm asked when I see my dentist is "is everything OK?" Pain is the time to see your dentist unless it's a minor stable circumstance, perhaps. For a few years I had sensitivity to cold, heat too maybe. It wasn't excruciating but was bothersome. Of course, I told my dentist. It's gone now, maybe the result of having a cavity fixed or a crown. I had one root canal. Then another when I developed a not very common condition known as a resorption. It's a not well understood phenomenon, they don't know why it happens, but they have some theories sometimes. Had it drilled out and filled by a specialist (not my dentist), but it returned and had a root canal on it by a different specialist, then he did a special filling and polishing below the gum line. If left untreated the resorption would have led to an extraction. The fix is probably permanent, but maybe not. X-rays will tell the story by and by.

 

[Muse]

Particularly, use 50-50 Listerine and water or 50-50 Hydrogen Peroxide and water with the water-flosser.

My current dentist said "a drop" of Listerine in the Water-Pik solution. My former dentist suggested a stronger solution, but that was for my resorption issue. There was a deep pocket by virtue of the first repair that was difficult to clean by conventional methods.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My current dentist said "a drop" of Listerine in the Water-Pik solution. My former dentist suggested a stronger solution, but that was for my resorption issue. There was a deep pocket by virtue of the first repair that was difficult to clean by conventional methods.

Yeah -- my own dentist seemed to think the Listerine was a bit extreme, and recommended the peroxide. I don't see how it does any harm. The last two cleaning appointments ended with the hygienist telling me "you don't have any tartar buildup." Maybe a little plaque.

 

[mindless1]

Keep in mind you can vary the % of whatever you add to your wash, until it knocks you on your arse. Then you know you've gone too far.

You want to knock out as much of the infection as possible or it will only get worse, faster. Granted hydrogen peroxide causes tissue damage too, is another reason why if you are resorting to self help beyond a warm saline gargle, you have already waited too long to get in to see a dentist.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Keep in mind you can vary the % of whatever you add to your wash, until it knocks you on your arse. Then you know you've gone too far.

You want to knock out as much of the infection as possible or it will only get worse, faster. Granted hydrogen peroxide causes tissue damage too, is another reason why if you are resorting to self help beyond a warm saline gargle, you have already waited too long to get in to see a dentist.

Tissue damage? To -- what? -- my gums? I better talk to my dentist -- I have three fillings scheduled for early June. I couldn't imagine Listerine causing tissue damage . . . .

But "they" -- the hygienist and the dentist -- would've said something by now. They only remarked that I'm keeping my teeth pretty clean.

Maybe you were directing your remark to the OP, and obviously you didn't quote me, so I misunderstood . . .