• 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.

Several problematic teeth, in the process of fixing but have some concerns...

M

missiri

Junior member
Joined
Mar 5, 2016
Messages
12
I have severe pain and due to dental offices being shut down, I had to get in contact with an on call doctor. I was told since I dont have a fever and it's not impacting my ability to eat, to continue taking my medication (anitbiotics amoxicillin and pain meds) until they can see me on Tuesday.

However I've read about infections spreading, and I've been having neck and head pains, jaw pain, my lymph nodes are a bit enlarged . I've been on the antibiotics for almost a week and I'm feeling pretty much the same. I told them all of this information as well, but it seemed they still penciled me in for Tuesday as if it were not an immediate concern since I do not have a fever or any swelling / pus etc.

Do I need to worry about this infection spreading until tuesday? Should I go into the doctor and get blood tests? I already went in for an EKG and chest xray which showed nothing. (This was due to other pain I was worried could be related) I know tooth pain can make it feel like youre dying and I have SEVERAL, but I'm paranoid my infection is reaching or has reached a really bad point.

Its my lower left molar that causes the most pain, but I have problematic /decayed front teeth AND two back molars with holes in them too. This happened due to years of depression, abusive relationship that made me give up on taking care of myself. Fixing them all has been a journey - ive already had three previous fiixes (that went fine). Im getting partial dentures for the front teeth as soon as i take care of the molar issues.

The last tooth I got removed was a top left back molar and it has intermittent pain that radiates. I went into the dentist and got it looked at and xrayed and she said i t looked fine, just that it was healing rather slowly. Im sure having other bad teeth is not helping it heal.

Im scared and concerned for my health at this point, and need some reassurance... advice... next steps.
 
Hi missiri, this is a question which often comes up here. Please have a look at our FAQs:

 
The bacteria which cause dental infections are very delicate wee beasties, they don't cause wide spread issues in the rest of the body, you won't get blood poisoning or sepsis or anything like that. The antibiotics you're already taking will wipe them out everywhere except in the infected teeth.
 
I have severe pain and due to dental offices being shut down, I had to get in contact with an on call doctor. I was told since I dont have a fever and it's not impacting my ability to eat, to continue taking my medication (anitbiotics amoxicillin and pain meds) until they can see me on Tuesday.

However I've read about infections spreading, and I've been having neck and head pains, jaw pain, my lymph nodes are a bit enlarged . I've been on the antibiotics for almost a week and I'm feeling pretty much the same. I told them all of this information as well, but it seemed they still penciled me in for Tuesday as if it were not an immediate concern since I do not have a fever or any swelling / pus etc.

Do I need to worry about this infection spreading until tuesday? Should I go into the doctor and get blood tests? I already went in for an EKG and chest xray which showed nothing. (This was due to other pain I was worried could be related) I know tooth pain can make it feel like youre dying and I have SEVERAL, but I'm paranoid my infection is reaching or has reached a really bad point.

Its my lower left molar that causes the most pain, but I have problematic /decayed front teeth AND two back molars with holes in them too. This happened due to years of depression, abusive relationship that made me give up on taking care of myself. Fixing them all has been a journey - ive already had three previous fiixes (that went fine). Im getting partial dentures for the front teeth as soon as i take care of the molar issues.

The last tooth I got removed was a top left back molar and it has intermittent pain that radiates. I went into the dentist and got it looked at and xrayed and she said i t looked fine, just that it was healing rather slowly. Im sure having other bad teeth is not helping it heal.

Im scared and concerned for my health at this point, and need some reassurance... advice... next steps.

Hey! Just wanna let you know that you're not alone in this. Understand how frustrating it is with covid-19 going on around the world. Really hope that everything will settle down soon.

I'm having ear and jaw pain with one of my bad tooth too. My lymph nodes are enlarged too. Keep taking the antibiotics and you will start to feel better soon, hopefully you will be able to get to the dentist soon as antibiotic is just buying times.
 
Thanks this is all reassuring, I get occipital Neuralgia type feelings from this too and it's a really scary feeling, so I just want to be sure the infection(s) aren't getting worse throughout my body. My appointment is tuesday so hoping for the best, at least on the left side of my face.
 
Sorry to revive my thread , but my root canal for one of my teeth is tomorrow (the one in most severe pain) and I’m really nervous about it. I’ve had teeth pulled before but never a root canal. Some people have told me if I can handle that, this is way more tolerable.

I’m just scared :(
 
Sorry to revive my thread , but my root canal for one of my teeth is tomorrow (the one in most severe pain) and I’m really nervous about it. I’ve had teeth pulled before but never a root canal. Some people have told me if I can handle that, this is way more tolerable.

I’m just scared :(

Hi,
I had my first root canal a few years ago and it was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be. It was probably what I dreaded the very most but it honestly feels like a very long, boring filling from the patient’s perspective. You will be numb so you shouldn‘t feel any pain and if you do, establish a stop signal with the dentist in advance to let them know that you need more local anesthesia. After having a root canal and knowing what to expect, I would do it again with very minimal anxiety about it. My dentist gave me virtual reality glasses to watch a movie during the procedure and I zoned out and watched the movie for the majority of it..I wasn’t even paying attention to what was happening in my mouth. Hope this helps put your mind at ease some! Best of luck for tomorrow! ?
 
I second everything @kitkat said, particularly the part with a "very long, boring filling". What a precise description! Root canal treatments sadly have bad reputation because decades ago they used to be painful, but they are not nowadays.

Good luck tomorrow and let us know how it went :clover:
 
Thanks for the comfort and support. I’m back and numb ! It did hurt at first and as soon as I told them they put numbing directly into the root lol. Then I didn’t feel a thing. That was the most painful of it and it wasn’t that bad just a few secs of discomfort and the dentist let me hold her hand until the numbness kicked in .

They also put a movie on for me too. I think my anxiety caused most of the bad feelings. It was a bad taste but I can deal with that and the procedure took about an hour. I have to go in again in two weeks for them to finish the job. But I’m feeling better abt going back now .

Thanks again for the support. I was scared the whole time but proud that I did it.
 
Missiri,

Glad this went well for you.. Sounds nice the dentist let you hold her hand until the numbness kicked in.. it sounds so compassionate and human.. love this.. and they put a movie for you! anything good? I suppose you didn't get a chance to finish it being an hour :). Glad that it wasn't too painful or uncomfortable and now you can rest a few weeks between ! :grouphug:
 
Yay! Congrats and well done! Give yourself a pack on the back :jump::jump::jump:
So glad all went well. Yeah, the taste is a bit weird. If you ever meet anyone needing a root canal treatment, please let them know it was ok, maybe we can overcome the bad reputation of root canal treatments one day.
 
So, it's two days after my root canal now and I am still tasting a very chemical like taste... and it tastes bad!! is that normal, or should I call them about it? I've never had one before so I'm not sure. I read that with temporary fillings you will taste it constantly until it's replaced. my next visit isnt until may 18th, am i really supposed to taste it for that long?

I know it's only the start of day three since i got it done, but can this (whatever im tasting) hurt me or it's just normal?
 
It's OK, it won't hurt you. Depends what the temporary filling is made from, some taste worse than others. The taste will fade over the next day or so.
 
Back
Top