• Dental Phobia Support

    Welcome! This is an online support group for anyone who is has a severe fear of the dentist or dental treatment. Please note that this is NOT a general dental problems or health anxiety forum! You can find a list of them here.

    Register now to access all the features of the forum.

Painful tooth and jaw getting worse

M

MountainMama

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
2,593
I had mentioned in my root canal post that I now had lower back molar that was hurting, but the dentist said nothing looked amiss, other than a tiny cavity starting between my teeth. He said thay shouldn't cause the pain and sensitivity I was having. I cannot apply any pressure to the tooth, and it is sensitive to air passing over it when I breathe. I put some of that temporary filling material over the grooves in my tooth and that helped the sensitiviy, but now I have constant pain in my jaw below the tooth. My cheek and jaw are tender to the touch and I have a slight fever. I also have a lump on my jaw next to the tooth.

I am absolutely terrified of an abscess. My husband had one last year, and he was in agony...couldn't do anything but lay in bed groaning. He has a super high pain tolerance. I don't. Of course it is Saturday, so I can't do anything about it until Monday, if the dentist can even get me in. I was on antibiotics for almost a month straight for that root canal, due to pain from infection between appointments. So now I am worried that the tooth has been infected for awhile and the antibiotics were holding it down. Now that they are out of my system, it is returning with a vengeance. After my failed root canal saga, I just want to hide in a hole and avoid the dentist. I don't want to hear that I need another one. We live in a rural area and don't have emergency dentists. What do I do if I get that awful abscess pain. It sounds inevitable based on my symptoms.
 
I'm sooo sorry to hear this. Did they put any emergency numbers on their paper work anywhere? website? when you call afterhours sometimes they will have a recorded message like "If you are a patient with an emergency please call Dr ...... at ..123-456-7891 . Have you tried any of these options to see if you can talk to someone? maybe get some pain meds or more antibiotics.. just ideas...
 
I did call and just got the option to leave a message. Now my root canal treated tooth started throbbing as well. I took 600 mg of ibuprofen and an extra strength tylenol and managed to get some relief last night. I am so worried about today, though. The abscess pain is my biggest fear.
 
Oh no I really hope you can get to see a dentist soon! I find I panic more and symptoms seem worse when I know I can’t see a dentist! I hope you can get more comfortable today! Sending big hugs xxx
 
The abscess pain is my biggest fear.

Not all abscesses as painful as your husband experienced it, so the fact you are having an abscess doesn't mean that you will end up with excruciating pain. There are even people who do not have any pain at all. Every body is different.

Hang on there, hope you can get through today in as much comfort as possible and get to a dentist tomorrow. All the best wishes :clover:
 
Thank you everyone. I know I am working myself up into a panic, which I do with dental issues. The pain is actually very manageable today with 600 mg ibuprofen every 6 hours. I feel like I have been living on this stuff. I do not want to take antibiotics again, as I feel that it has already been way overdone, with 3 courses of 10 days each already.
I am going to call the dentist tomorrow. I was supposed to get my permanent crown put o Tuesday, but with the pain in the RCT tooth, that won't happen, so maybe they will switch it to see my tooth instead.
 
I went to my dentist today and she thought that I had lost part of my filling. She took out the filling and found decay underneath. Not a lot, but really deep. Deep enough that even being totally numbed, I felt when she drilled there. It made me jump. She added fluoride before the filling, saying that might help keep it from getting infected like my other tooth. She is hoping that I won't need a root canal on that tooth. I am still numb right now, but if it is throbbing when the numbness wears off, I think I will be devastated. I can't do this again.
 
At least this dentist found a reason for your pain! Hopefully the fluoride will act as a sedative and help protect the nerve! It still might take ages werks for it to settle down! Let us know how it feels later x
 
Yes the dentist said it could take 2 weeks before it stopped hurting. She said as long as the pain didn't get worse, or start throbbing, I should be okay. I am so glad to have that appointment over with!!

I have no throbbing but plenty of pain stil, but apparently normal.
 
Back
Top