Swollen and in pain, cant see dentist right away

[MagnetoWasRight]

I have a lower back molar that has a large cavity in it. The tooth originally caught my eye when I noticed the gum was swollen. It didn't hurt at first, but now it's hurting and the swelling has gotten worse.

I can't see my dentist until Monday or Tuesday, since it's the weekend. The doctor in town also isn't available. The nearest hospital is an hour away and the bill would be more than the dentist appointment, and they couldn't remove the tooth, since they're a small hospital without an on-call dentist. I'll go there if I absolutely have to, but I don't have much money for it.

I have really bad dental phobia, and I feel like it's making the pain worse than it actually is.

My questions:

I've been using ice packs and ibuprofen. Is there anything else I can do?

Will I be alright until Monday?

I had a top molar extracted previously, which didn't get dry socket. Are bottom molar extraction sites more prone to getting dry socket?

Thank you and I'm sorry if I panicked and this is poorly worded.

 

[kitkat]

Hello,
I’m not a dentist and can’t speak for whether or not this is something to leave until Monday as infections (if that’s what it is) can be unpredictable but I know that other members have had success using clove oil to treat dental pain temporarily. As far as dry socket, I don’t think there is an increased risk with bottom extractions. It’s a relatively uncommon complication so long as you follow the aftercare instructions (i.e. no smoking, no straws, etc).

 

[Gordon]

Unfortunately there is a very, very slight increase in risk of dry socket with a lower extraction, it's No 3 in the list of aggravating factors:
1) Smoking
2) Difficult extraction
3) Lower versus upper tooth
4) Woman more likely than man (no comments from me here!)

It's unlikely that the local hospital will do anything useful other than give you an antibiotic which will take 24hrs to work at best, so long as the swelling isn't tracking down into your neck then you're probably as well to manage the pain with ibuprofen etc and see a dentist tomorrow.

 

[MagnetoWasRight]

Unfortunately there is a very, very slight increase in risk of dry socket with a lower extraction, it's No 3 in the list of aggravating factors:
1) Smoking
2) Difficult extraction
3) Lower versus upper tooth
4) Woman more likely than man (no comments from me here!)

It's unlikely that the local hospital will do anything useful other than give you an antibiotic which will take 24hrs to work at best, so long as the swelling isn't tracking down into your neck then you're probably as well to manage the pain with ibuprofen etc and see a dentist tomorrow.

Thank you, Gordon!

Unfortunately I can't get in on Monday, so it'll probably have to be Tuesday, but the pain isn't as bad as before. Don't know why it was so agitated yesterday. Swelling is around the same; it's mostly swollen around the tooth and my jaw is sensitive to touch. I don't see any prominent facial swelling when I look in the mirror, so if there is any it's pretty minimal. So far ibuprofen is keeping the swelling down, so I'm hoping I can make it until Tuesday.

I'm not sure if it's infected or not, but I'm sure I'll find out when I get it pulled. Can there be swelling without an infection?

Thanks again, Gordon!

 

[Gordon]

No, swelling is a fairly clear sign of infection. Usually when the swelling comes up it takes the edge off the pain as the pressure reduces.