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Amoxicillin for 1 month while waiting on appt

M

Mrsmurray23

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2023
Messages
68
Location
Texas
Hello,

I developed tooth pain the Sunday after thanksgiving (11/26) and saw a random dentist that Monday. X-ray didn’t really show infection, but since the tooth (lower molar on left side - not furthest back but the one in front of it) had a huge filling done in it 4 years ago the dentist said it was probably aggravating the nerve and needs a root canal or extraction. I have dental phobia and got hysterical and wanted time to weigh my options. I got a prescription for penicillin VK on Monday 11/27 and took the first one that night. I did 10 days of penicillin VK 500mg 2xs Daily. I know certainly I had infection, my tooth was throbbing and would only calm down with ice cold water so I know it had gas build up.

During this time I saw another dentist who I had seen in the past and he agreed root canal or extraction. He advised IV sedation and we made an appt for Thursday 12/14. He went ahead and gave me a prescription for amoxicillin to start 2 days before my appt. As soon as I was done with my last dose of penicillin my tooth started to ache again, I only waited maybe 24hrs and then started the amoxicillin to make sure I didn’t end up with a bad infection again. During this time I went into borderline psychosis about Iv sedation and was hysterical and sure I would die if I had it. I ended up cancelling my appt on 12/14 that morning due to a horrendous panic attack.

I finished that round of amoxicillin and immediately got another round to keep it going. I saw a therapist and had a break through in my mental health and am going to use Xanax to get me to the appt and have rescheduled my iv sedation for January 4th.

Today will finish my 2nd course of amoxicillin, back to back, and right after a 10 day course of penicillin. During my psychotic episode (before therapy) I also used a dental drill to try and drill out my own filling in order to let my tooth infection drain if needed to keep from going to the dentist. I am certain I drilled way too far and messed things up in there (when I measure it’s about half an inch down into my tooth, so 12.7mm). I put some dent temp filling in there in hopes of it just holding out for January.

I am really worried this infection will come back before my appt, so I have gotten a 3rd round of amoxicillin in case I need it.

Yesterday I fell asleep and went 12+ hours between antibiotics and today my tooth hurt significantly more and made me feel like infection was coming back already. I am not sure if it’s pain from my drilling (it’s been 4 days since I did that) also.

I know there is mixed reviews on the safety of long term antibiotic use, but I was just curious if any one personally has been on or if any dentists have had patients on antibiotics for 30+ days while waiting for treatment.
 
There's no point in taking more penicillin based antibiotics, they've killed every susceptible bacteria in the area and you're basically just putting the penicillin down the toilet at this stage.

If you can switch to a different antibiotic such as metronidazole then that would be better but the tooth should last for a few weeks after that.
 
@Gordon thank you for your reply! I took my last amoxicillin on Christmas morning at 7:30am and so far haven’t had an issues or pain that indicates the infection is getting worse. I’m hoping I’ll be able to just keep the tooth clean as possible and it’ll drain through the hole and hold out on any further amoxicillin until my appt on January 4th. Dentist actually wants me to start them on the 2nd.


Another question if you don’t mind @Gordon - do you do iv sedation? I’m having it done and I’m terrified about it. How it will feel, what if I’m over sedated and stop breathing, what if I go into cardiac arrest and die. All the worst case scenarios. My dentist is using midazolam (he normally uses fentanyl as well but I asked not to have that included). I am just so scared - so any positive feedback on the iv sedation I would really appreciate.
 
Another question if you don’t mind @Gordon - do you do iv sedation? I’m having it done and I’m terrified about it. How it will feel, what if I’m over sedated and stop breathing, what if I go into cardiac arrest and die. All the worst case scenarios. My dentist is using midazolam (he normally uses fentanyl as well but I asked not to have that included). I am just so scared - so any positive feedback on the iv sedation I would really appreciate.
Yes, for about 30 years :-)
Have you read the article on here about it? https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/help/sedation-dentistry/iv-sedation/

How it will feel,
Like you've had several bottles of rather nice red wine (or white if you prefer) :-) Except sadly you won't remember any of it.

what if I’m over sedated and stop breathing, what if I go into cardiac arrest and die. A
Not possible. Midazolam is about the safest drug on the planet. Overdose is almost impossible, it literally would need about a litre of the stuff. It's also very easily and quickly able to be reversed if necessary.

You're less likely to have any cardiac issues, due to removing all the stress factors in the dental treatment. Oh and local anaesthetic works better on sedated patients too...
 
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