In pain and scared in middle of night

[kemmie777]

It's the middle of the night and I am awake because my tooth is very painful and has a white spot on the gum. This tooth has a root canal and crown on it. The root canal was done about 4 or 5 years ago. The crown only placed a couple of years ago. It's never given me trouble except when the root canal was performed they left the bite a little high and it was extremely sore. They adjusted it and it was fine. Now I am having that pain again but worse. It started Saturday with a little bit of soreness in my gums that would go away. It sometimes happens if I brush or floss too hard. The gum gets irritated which can slightly through my bite off if the gum swells. Usually I take some ibuprofen and make sure I baby that side for the day. It's just felt worse and medicine will dull the throb for a couple of hours. The pain gets bad enough that the tooth next to it will feel sore too. Now I have a white spot slightly below the gum line of the crowned tooth. Its not really a pimple but more flat. The gum is swollen around it though. It's not oosing and not painful when the spot is touched but I am freaked out and scared to the point I am just laying in bed crying because I don't know what else to do. I looked around the Internet but that just caused me more distress with all the possibilities out there. None of them particularly comforting. And most of all I don't want to go to the dentist for fear of a horrible outcome, treatment that doesn't work or worse no prognosis at all. I could really use some support.

 

[sunflower32]

Hi Kemmie. I'm so sorry to hear you're up crying in the middle of the night. Can you take some more ibuprofen to stop the pain enough to get some sleep? Maybe you could find a 24-hour drugstore so you can buy some Oragel.

I know you don't want to go to the dentist, but you will feel so much better if you do go and get this taken care of. Not only that, but you'll feel proud of yourself for facing your fear! The time leading up to dental visits are always the worst for me. I'm scared to make the appointment. I try to talk myself into not going because "it's no big deal" and the dentist probably won't even find a problem anyway. But it's always such a relief when I do go. And I am proud of myself when I go because I avoided the dentist for some many years. So I do understand your mindset. But it's just awful to work ourselves up into a tizzy imagining all the possible outcomes when it'll just be so much easier to just go and get it over with. Unfortunately, Googling tends to make this worse because then we start thinking we have every horrible ailment that's on the internet.

Try to get some sleep tonight if you can. Then maybe tomorrow try calling the dentist. Or emailing if it's easier. Or have a friend call. Whatever is easiest for you.

I hope you're able to go get this taken care of. It's never fun being in pain. Good luck to you!

 

[Thephilsblogbar]

Agree with sunflower best to phone up to the dentist to get you in to sort out your problem. I had an abcesss twice in the last 10 years and needed appointments to sort out problem. I always have been to the dentist, the first time happened over Christmas back in 2005 and had to see a different dentist at another practice who could not do a lot without seeing my notes, but the stuff he gave me which was okay on prescription helped me teeth settled down.

2nd time was in 2015 had a few sleepless nights kept my parents up, was scared to go back to dentist but knew I had to, even though I seen the dentist I saw at the practice before where I have my dental appointments done knew I was scared, she was very kind and did all the checks she could to find out I had abcess which i knew I had because I had the same pain as in 2005.

 

[kemmie777]

I have an appointment today at noon. I am scared they won't be able to do anything and I will leave still in this pain. The little white bump ruptured I guess when I brushed my teeth this morning. It looks like what a blister would look like that has popped. It didn't hurt and didn't relieve anything. I didn't get any weird taste or liquid that I've read from people who have had abscesses burst. I am just scared right now. I don't usually cry at the dentist but I might today.

 

[kingkong]

I have an appointment today at noon. I am scared they won't be able to do anything and I will leave still in this pain. The little white bump ruptured I guess when I brushed my teeth this morning. It looks like what a blister would look like that has popped. It didn't hurt and didn't relieve anything. I didn't get any weird taste or liquid that I've read from people who have had abscesses burst. I am just scared right now. I don't usually cry at the dentist but I might today.

Perhaps you could tell someone at the dentist that you're feeling a bit fragile? Sometimes they can be supportive, but it really depends on the practice and the people working there.

 

[carole]

Hi you won't be left with the tooth if it needs treatment. Root canals can get an infection under them and abscesses which are an infection. It can be cured either by re-treating the tooth or extraction. Once they have taken an x ray and had a look they will be able to see if a re-treatment has a chance of working.

Don't worry about this if this is offered to you it is easyish, for us they just drill through the crown and clean the tooth and the infection out and put a filling in when they are sure it is infection free. It will not hurt as you don't have any nerves left in the tooth. If you are worried ask them to numb you, I had a re-treatment in a rct'd tooth, it hadn't been crowned. They numbed me because the infection made the tooth hurt and I couldn't stand the drilling without numbing.

They may give you some antibiotics, but I think they will more likely suggest a re-treat. Don't be afraid you will be okay and this is curable. Explain to the dentist that you have got yourself all worked up about this and that you are really nervous about this and I am sure they will understand and help you feel calm and relaxed.

I hope this helps you a bit

 

[kemmie777]

So my dentist sent me to a root canal specialist who said the tooth was fractured at the root and sent me back to my dentist. He pulled it and the fracture was confirmed. At least it wasn't pulled and ended up not being fractured. I'm in pain right now from the extraction and waiting on my meds from the pharmacy. Oh and I cried at both offices. They were all very nice and sympathetic. I am not gonna lie. They numbed me up good but it still hurt a bit I guess from all the inflammation and starting infection. Now I will have to plan my next step: implant or bridge. I am leaning toward implant because while expensive and my insurance doesn't cover it it will be more cost effective in the long run. A bridge would involve shaving down two other teeth and would have to be replaced about every 7 years or so. I have a couple weeks before I need to decide for sure. It was all too much for me to think about right after.

 

[carole]

I am pleased for you that the tooth has gone and will no longer bother you. On the subject of filling the gap an implant is going to be the best thing but not everyone can have them.

A bridge is a good second choice and they last way longer than 7 years. I have had one for nearly 30 years and it is still okay.

Follow the aftercare instructions and I hope you heal quickly. Take things easy now for a few days and treat yourself when you feel up to it.