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Abscessed Tooth Not Responding to Antibiotics?

J

jaime

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2010
Messages
71
My 7-yr old has an abscessed tooth (which is weird because x-rays from her last dental checkup 6 months ago didn't show any cavity). She has been on antibiotics for 5 days now and tonight I noticed that the 'bubble' infection on her gum has gotten bigger. Does this mean the antibiotic is not working?

Her appointment to get the tooth extracted is coming up soon (the day after tomorrow). I am a nervous wreck that the dentist will do the extraction and she'll be in pain because the infection is still there. And I see another tooth that's not looking healthy, so I need this visit to the dentist to be relatively nice; I don't want her to develop a fear of the dentist at such a young age.

(Oh my gosh, I've been browsing this forum for nearly 2 hours. All the information and stories, wow!)
 
I've temporarily moved this as it is more likely to get an answer from a dentist in this section.
 
Hey
A bit difficult to answer without seeing the patient, but I try to provide useful information.
The bubble means that the infection is being drained toward outside. It is very common with milk teeth because most of the infections start in the upper part of the roots (the furcation of the roots) near the gum line, so it is very easy for the inflammation to burst out through the gums. It does not mean that the antibiotics did not help, in fact it has probably decreased the infection in other sides of the tooth (where is a better blood supply). This is important because the extraction will be much less painful (compared to a larger infection).
An extraction in the age of seven is an important experience for the future. It is important that the dentist be attentive, considerate and gentle. You can point out to your daughter the difference between before the treatment (sick tooth, pain, bad taste in the mouth) and after, to emphasise the idea the dentist role is to help, to improve. :cheers:
 
I'd say at 7, she's old enough to signal if she needs more sleepy medicine during the procedure but not all dentists will give up control to a child like that.
Given that she has been on the antibiotics, I'm pretty sure it will be better than you expect. Are you in USA or UK? Do you trust this dentist already?
 
I called the dentist and left a message. In the meantime it's good to know that just because the bubble is still there, it doesn't mean the medicine's not working. Thanks, Dr. Daniel!

I hope the extraction goes well tomorrow. The funny thing, my daughter hasn't been in any sort of pain from the abscessed tooth. The only reason we found out about it was my husband was doubtful that she had brushed her teeth one night, so he went and brushed them. That's when we noticed the bubble on her gum.

Brit, we're in the USA and have been going to this dentist for several years. There was a year where our daughter went to a different dentist because she was on medicaid during our unemployment. I like our dentist for the most part. He's good with giving numbing shots, which is a lot more than I can say for my childhood dentist.

I did have trouble with a crown he put in a couple of years ago. It gave me constant pain for over a year and I couldn't eat on that side. And it figures that would happen, right when our dental insurance ran out. I was too scared of a dental bill to go back to see what the problem was. Today the crown is doing better, though. Not 100%, but livable.
 
A comfortable shot is the best way to get co-operation from a child, so that's good to hear. Best wishes.
 
Thought I'd revived this old thread instead of starting a new one. :)

So, fast-forward 7 months later and my daughter has been on 6 rounds of antibiotics for a couple of different gum abscesses. The first one was finally taken care of by extracting the tooth. Now she's been dealing with one on the other side of her mouth for the past few months. The bubble will go down a little after taking antibiotics and the dentist says it's good to go, then it comes back with a vengeance soon after. To be honest, I'm sick of her having to take antibiotics because I worry about her building up a resistance to them in the future.

We've got a dentist appointment in a couple of days. Like always, this abscess doesn't hurt her at all, so at least that's a plus. The dentist believes this abscess is caused by food particles getting in around two teeth that she had filled (they're side by side). I thought this explanation was a little strange since the abscess is one tooth over from the filled teeth, but what do I know?

To get to my question, what is best in this situation? Should I try to persuade the dentist to recommend an oral surgeon? If that's not necessary, do you think it's safe that she take more antibiotics? Or, if the dentist is right about the cause of the abscess, should she just get her two filled teeth pulled (they're both baby teeth)? If that's done, can a spacer adequately prevent tooth crowding?

Sorry for all the questions, but anyone can help me out with any of them, thank you! I've been googling for information unsuccessfully for 2 hours and my brain is on overload.
 
Hey
Difficult to answer without seeing your child.
Can you get a second opinion from another dentist?
 
Thought I'd revived this old thread instead of starting a new one. :)

So, fast-forward 7 months later and my daughter has been on 6 rounds of antibiotics for a couple of different gum abscesses. The first one was finally taken care of by extracting the tooth. Now she's been dealing with one on the other side of her mouth for the past few months. The bubble will go down a little after taking antibiotics and the dentist says it's good to go, then it comes back with a vengeance soon after. To be honest, I'm sick of her having to take antibiotics because I worry about her building up a resistance to them in the future.

We've got a dentist appointment in a couple of days. Like always, this abscess doesn't hurt her at all, so at least that's a plus. The dentist believes this abscess is caused by food particles getting in around two teeth that she had filled (they're side by side). I thought this explanation was a little strange since the abscess is one tooth over from the filled teeth, but what do I know?

To get to my question, what is best in this situation? Should I try to persuade the dentist to recommend an oral surgeon? If that's not necessary, do you think it's safe that she take more antibiotics? Or, if the dentist is right about the cause of the abscess, should she just get her two filled teeth pulled (they're both baby teeth)? If that's done, can a spacer adequately prevent tooth crowding?

Sorry for all the questions, but anyone can help me out with any of them, thank you! I've been googling for information unsuccessfully for 2 hours and my brain is on overload.

You Must be in the USA as only an American dentist would be too afraid to remove a primary tooth in face of a little infection. Do not keep taking antibiotics for a well localized infection just take out the source of the infection. It is obvious that your child's dentist( a g.p. I presume)is not confortable so go elsewhere for the extraction.
By the way multiple dosing of antibiotics does lead to colonization of drug resistant microbes.
 
Hey
Difficult to answer without seeing your child.
Can you get a second opinion from another dentist?

Yes, my dental insurance is a PPO, so I can go to another dentist who accepts it. When I mentioned this to my daughter, she freaked. She's afraid to see a new dentist.
 
You Must be in the USA as only an American dentist would be too afraid to remove a primary tooth in face of a little infection. Do not keep taking antibiotics for a well localized infection just take out the source of the infection. It is obvious that your child's dentist( a g.p. I presume)is not confortable so go elsewhere for the extraction.
By the way multiple dosing of antibiotics does lead to colonization of drug resistant microbes.

Yes, I am in the USA and our dentist is a g.p. He's a good dentist, but old (past retirement age), and I sometimes wonder if he's up for the job anymore. He did do an extraction on the first tooth after trying antibiotics and a root canal (on a baby tooth--I forgot what that's called).

Thank you for the antibiotics info. I've talked to the dentist and to my family doctor, and both say that the 6 rounds of antibiotics my daughter's had during the past 7 months are harmless. I can't help but feel like they're taking the easy way out by prescribing repeated antibiotics.
 
Yes, I am in the USA and our dentist is a g.p. He's a good dentist, but old (past retirement age), and I sometimes wonder if he's up for the job anymore. He did do an extraction on the first tooth after trying antibiotics and a root canal (on a baby tooth--I forgot what that's called).

Thank you for the antibiotics info. I've talked to the dentist and to my family doctor, and both say that the 6 rounds of antibiotics my daughter's had during the past 7 months are harmless. I can't help but feel like they're taking the easy way out by prescribing repeated antibiotics.
I agreed that I don't think there is significant harm but there is literature to support my statement about drug resistance as antibiotics are grossly over used.
 
Okay, back from the dentist. He says it's not an abscess because there's no white center on the bump, just likely a lesser form of a bacterial infection.

He didn't take any action and wants us to just wait and see as long as it's not causing her any pain and pus isn't leaking out of it. He says one of her filled teeth nearby is ready to fall out anytime now (it's not loose--not anything that I can notice, anyhow--but an x-ray showed the adult tooth under it is coming up) and that once it falls out that should solve the problem of bacteria getting in.

My daughter was so relieved he wasn't going to pull her tooth out. :jump:
 
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