Need kind words, please :( Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

[pixie16502]

Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

Hello all,

I have finally joined this forum after reading here off and on over the years. I am thankful this forum exists!!

I am 37 years old and have anxiety. I get very anxious about medical and dental issues. Always have.

What I am dealing with now is a lower tooth toward the back. It has been broken for some time and when it isn't painful I tend to ignore it (not a good idea at all!!)
Starting a week ago the pain starting getting pretty bad, but I was able to function with ibuprofen. On Thursday of last week I called a dentist to get and appointment and wasn't able to see her until yesterday morning. I have been in massive pain all weekend and still am. The swelling is worse than I have ever had with the area under my jaw very swollen and tender. Ouch!!!

She and her staff were very nice to me. She prescribed Clindamycin 4x day. And she advised me to take ibuprofen 800 mg, every 8 hours. That is NOT cutting it So I have had to also take vicodin which I had from a past dental issue. I am sleeping most of the day and night and had to miss work yesterday and today.

I am hoping someone can tell me if this swelling and pain will go away soon?!?

I have to go back to the dentist on Thursday so she can open the tooth or something and fill it with antiseptic? I believe this is how she explained it. She said she didn't want to do that yesterday since the infection and swelling were so bad and I would not have been able to be number properly.

Any kind words of advice or can anyone tell me what the procedure will be like on Thursday? Will I feel relief afterwards? I am scheduled for the rest of the root canal procedure on the 14th of May.

I have had a root canal before and it was not painful, just long. I hope this will be the same. Unfortunately with that tooth, I didn't go back in time to get it finished so it broke off to the gumline. But that's another story. Oh I hate phobias and anxiety

 

[christopherstarks]

Re: Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

I have had a root canal break. It was nothing painful as the roots were already gone. Now I did have a back molar break as well on bottom left side of my mouth. It was painful, but with my dental fear, I wouldn't dare call a dentist. I ended up living with it for 2 years, living on Ibuprofen to get by. Let me tell you, It hendered my ability to eat, I ended up losing a lot of weight and started to realize that if I continued to take Ibuprofen daily I was eventually going to screw up my liver. Yersterday, I went in to get this molar extracted. I was under IV sedation (Conscience Sedation) to be more exact. I panicked all the way til the day I had to get it extracted (I wasn't able to swallow any longer) as the filling in the tooth was cutting my tongue open. THe procedure was a breeze. Infact I don't remember much about it. I keep telling everyone that I was completely awake during the work, but for somereason, I just dont' remember much of it after getting the sedation. Please check into IV Sedation to aid in fear.

 

[pixie16502]

Re: Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

Thank you for your response, Christophersparks!! I am glad your procedure went well.

I guess what I am having done on Thursday is a pulpectomy. The dentist is going to do this treatment to remove the infected tissue and nerves from the tooth. It is like the first part of a root canal. Then she is going to put medication in and put a temporary covering on the tooth.

I hope this won't be a painful procedure

 

[DisneyMom]

Re: Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

Thank you for your response, Christophersparks!! I am glad your procedure went well.

I guess what I am having done on Thursday is a pulpectomy. The dentist is going to do this treatment to remove the infected tissue and nerves from the tooth. It is like the first part of a root canal. Then she is going to put medication in and put a temporary covering on the tooth.

I hope this won't be a painful procedure

It's not painful at all. Once your dentist numbs you up, you don't feel a thing. Afterwards, you may feel a tiny bit of discomfort, until the tooth *calms down*, (the discomfort can easily be treated with ibuprophen or whatever your dentist suggests) You will do fine AND will be on the road to better dental health!! Try not to worry

 

[christopherstarks]

Re: Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

This all sounds very familiar to my experience and let me start by saying, it did not hurt at all. What will most likely happen, and again this is from my experince:

1). Dentist will numb your tooth very well.
2). Your tooth is drilled open (It doesn't hurt, just some scary noises)
3). The dentist will use some small needles and will spin them around in your tooth to dig out the roots, again this as bad as it sounds will not hurt at all. Seriously, You will feel nothing.
4). Once done, the dentist will fill your tooth with antiseptic and tiny cotton balls. This is too disinfect the tooth and keep the inside clean.

5). Once all this is done, about 2-4 days alter you will go back in, the dentist will redrill your tooth open, again this will not hurt at all since your roots will be completely gone.

6). He will place some pegs, possibly orange ones that will fit into the legs of your tooth, this is to stability the root cavity area. he will then fill the tooth with composite matieral. From there he will seal off the tooth and harden the material by shining a blue light onto the tooth.

After all is said and done, you will eventually go in to get a crown put on. Trust me, do NOT pass this by. The military dentists forgot to tell me to come back to get the crown on mine (Plus I didn't know I had to as I've never had the procedure at the time) and the tooth broke a few weeks later.

The process of the root canal is time consuming yes, however was absolutely painless. Infact, I found it fascinating as the dentist was showing me what the inside of my tooth looked like through a mirror.

You can do it!

 

[christopherstarks]

Re: Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

I have had a root canal break. It was nothing painful as the roots were already gone. Now I did have a back molar break as well on bottom left side of my mouth. It was painful, but with my dental fear, I wouldn't dare call a dentist. I ended up living with it for 2 years, living on Ibuprofen to get by. Let me tell you, It hendered my ability to eat, I ended up losing a lot of weight and started to realize that if I continued to take Ibuprofen daily I was eventually going to screw up my liver. Yersterday, I went in to get this molar extracted. I was under IV sedation (Conscience Sedation) to be more exact. I panicked all the way til the day I had to get it extracted (I wasn't able to swallow any longer) as the filling in the tooth was cutting my tongue open. THe procedure was a breeze. Infact I don't remember much about it. I keep telling everyone that I was completely awake during the work, but for somereason, I just dont' remember much of it after getting the sedation. Please check into IV Sedation to aid in fear.

Let me clarify on this as I was originally writing this while on Hydrocodone. I went in to not get only that molar extracted..but I had 10 teeth total extracted. It was painless. A little discomfort afterwards but nothing a little ibupofen couldn't handle.

 

[pixie16502]

Re: Need kind words, please Abscess swelling and pain.. oh and big time anxiety

Thanks so much for your kind words, DisneyMom and christopherstarks...

I have endured a root canal before but I wasn't in massive pain with swelling as I am now.

My dentist is saying that she wants to wait until the swelling goes down to do anything. The problem is this will be the fourth day of work I have missed this week due to this pain and swelling

So now I worry that she will not do anything for me today since I am still swollen/in pain. I have been on the Clindamycin (antibiotic) since later in the day on Monday.

Even though I am so scared, I wish she would just open the tooth up so the infection could drain somewhat. I can't believe I am saying that due to how anxious I get but at this point anything would be better than this pain that won't go away.

Thanks again for the support. It really does help.