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Acute situation bite abscess? Gums clenching

S

SallyUK

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 3, 2011
Messages
297
Hi
first of all I like my dentist. Secondly I have lots off restorations and expect more tooth loss at some point but currently dealing with so much.

Top left quadrant is my only full one. Two crowned molars, one crowned premolar and one crowned canine.

teeth have been pretty stable for a while. Check up in May showed decay in one of the molars, initial decay years ago was between the teeth and ideally needed a new crown. Dentist wasn’t confident it would hold up so he compromised and filled it. A month later the crown next to it at the back came off along with some build up. His colleague recemented but said it might not hold.

Three plus weeks ago I had pain in my jaw joint, muscles in my neck and temples and gums sore. I realised I was clenching and my bite felt slightly off. This has happened before and resolved. But it didn’t, on and off pain and what felt like two sprained teeth that I was knocking together. Last Sunday the back crown was loose. Made emergency visit to dentist Monday. He took the crown off and said we could try rct and new crown or extraction but no rush to decide, can leave a gap if we do extract. He left the crown off with a temp filling over the root. He saw my bite was off and muscle tested which were very tight, exercises improved this pain within days. Agreed to review getting a mouth guard after dealing with back tooth. My dentist is mindful that I find work being done stressful, so trying to pace it.

tuesday I had my regular check up. There were gum pockets of 5 near the two teeth that had been sensitive when I was clenching. Two years ago i had a deep clean in this area and gums have been fine since. Dentist advised on upping cleaning. No X-rays taken, last check up in May they were done.

thursday night I get a red and sore spot on my gum line behind the incisor tooth, this swelled by Saturday and I called emergency dentist. Thought it might be from clenching and the probe into the pocket at the check up. Locally painful but not like abscesses I’ve had in the past, the gum at the front of these teeth also inflamed. Emergency dentist advised use salt water rinse and no need to visit unless gets worse. Last night the bump came to a head and started to drain and pain diminishing. The sensitivity when I touch teeth together, bruised feeling is also going. The canine and the front tooth that I thought were sensitive from my clenching but maybe not considering this swelling I had...

the canine tooth has moved, it’s a bit loose and I’m beside myself trying to work out if all these things are connected and what sort of damage is going on along this arch and imagining them all being taken out. My bite is moving about, presume that’s gum swelling and jaw tightness but also this tooth not positioned right anymore. Was this a trauma injury? An abscess in this tooth causing all of it?

I feel overwhelmed at what’s to come. I would say the anxiety is giving way to frustration and exhaustion. I now guess the tooth rct has failed, the incisor. It was done 9 yrs ago through an existing crown, it had two roots but he thought it had three but consulted with the endodontic surgeon who said there was not, the wall of one of the roots had eroded from the infection and that my dentist had reached the end of the root (as is now). So this tooth sounds fragile....... what will I do if it has to be extracted? A denture? A gap at the front? :( What will I do about the back molar? I had decided to go for the rct on it and try to keep it, implant not possible there. Feel a bit helpless and up against it.

so upset, not sure I can cope with all this going on at once and want to break this cycle. I feel like clenching is causing pain and possible this abscess or sprain, the bite is off because of it all and around I go..... and concerns I will discover more bad news, catastrophising and over thinking..... try to see dentist again tomorrow for X-ray. Do you think he would extract it immediately if it can’t be retreated, sound serious? I just want to run away
:cry:
 
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Dentist pain is so hard to deal with! I just got all my teeth crowned and was doing ok until I just had a tooth abscess. Had to have an emergency root canal yesterday. It’s hard to keep positive, but it sounds like your dentist can help you with everything that’s going on. I’m sorry you have to go through this whole thing. Take it one day at a time, you’ve got this!
 
Hi Sally, sorry you’re going through this. I have had a mental dental year, partly due to clenching my teeth, so I sympathise. I also understand the anxiety - I am a catastrophiser too. I have a journal in that section which will give you some idea.

I think you need to see your dentist as a priority and find out what treatment you need. Hopefully he will be able to fit you in tomorrow. Once things are stable, a night guard should help with the clenching. I had a soft upper one initially, but now a hard lower one. No dentist will want to leave you with a gap in the front of your mouth, so if you need the tooth extracted, which is the worst case scenario, there are options.

I really hope you can have a peaceful evening and get some relief tomorrow.
 
Dentist pain is so hard to deal with! I just got all my teeth crowned and was doing ok until I just had a tooth abscess. Had to have an emergency root canal yesterday. It’s hard to keep positive, but it sounds like your dentist can help you with everything that’s going on. I’m sorry you have to go through this whole thing. Take it one day at a time, you’ve got this!
Thank you. I get anxious when things are uncertain with my teeth, also anxious to hear the diagnosis for this recent issue. You have been through a lot, hope you are feeling on the road to dental wellness
 
Hi Sally, sorry you’re going through this. I have had a mental dental year, partly due to clenching my teeth, so I sympathise. I also understand the anxiety - I am a catastrophiser too. I have a journal in that section which will give you some idea.

I think you need to see your dentist as a priority and find out what treatment you need. Hopefully he will be able to fit you in tomorrow. Once things are stable, a night guard should help with the clenching. I had a soft upper one initially, but now a hard lower one. No dentist will want to leave you with a gap in the front of your mouth, so if you need the tooth extracted, which is the worst case scenario, there are options.

I really hope you can have a peaceful evening and get some relief tomorrow.

Thanks Judy, your words are very grounding. I am starting to think the grinding got worse because this tooth was brewing an infection and was sitting high and throwing my bite, then I thought my symptoms were the clenching ! I’m going to try and get an appt tomorrow, all weekend spent coping. The abscess is draining now, yuk! I’ve never had a boil come up like this before, previous two abscesses a while ago were pain inside and dentist drilled tooth to release pressure and root filled, this tooth is root canalled so maybe that’s why I’ve got all this gum swelling, so horrible. Thanks again for replying
 
Thanks Judy, your words are very grounding. I am starting to think the grinding got worse because this tooth was brewing an infection and was sitting high and throwing my bite, then I thought my symptoms were the clenching ! I’m going to try and get an appt tomorrow, all weekend spent coping. The abscess is draining now, yuk! I’ve never had a boil come up like this before, previous two abscesses a while ago were pain inside and dentist drilled tooth to release pressure and root filled, this tooth is root canalled so maybe that’s why I’ve got all this gum swelling, so horrible. Thanks again for replying

I swear, I was actually quite mad last summer with pain and anxiety. Even now things are more settled - after spending thousands of pounds - I am obsessed with my teeth. I hadn’t had any work done in about ten years, always just checkup and scale and polish, now my dentist knows me almost as well as my partner does, and I have read so much about dentistry I could easily change career!

Hopefully if you ring first thing tomorrow they will slot you in - my surgery has two “pain appointments” per dentist each day, and will always fit someone in if they can, although I think Monday is probably the worst day to ring. Once you have a plan of action, and are out of pain, things should be easier to manage.

(In terms of your dodgy molar, I am missing one on bottom right, two on the bottom left with absolutely no issues. I do have my wisdom teeth, but started out with fewer teeth because of extractions for orthodontics in my early teens. All top teeth present and correct, in case I sound like I am toothless! I am in the middle of getting flexible partial dentures to fill the gaps, but they have been there for years. These don’t go right round your mouth, just sit on the gum, so might be an option if your front tooth needs to come out. I am paying £300 for each side.)

I hope you can get a good sleep and get things moving in the morning - do come back and update tomorrow.
 
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