I
ihatethateffingchair
Junior member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2024
- Messages
- 2
- Location
- UK
Hello
Was at the dentist a couple days ago. I'd started having throbbing pain in the lower left molars (though it would sometimes feel like it was in upper left molars). Was no pain biting or chewing for the first 48 hours, but a few hours before my appt at the dentist, one tooth suddenly became very painful to touch. It was my the left "2nd bicuspid" according to a diagram on the Google. I thought the problem tooth was the actually 1st molar as it's a filled tooth that i've had sensitivity problems with for years; I've had it checked many times when it's flared up, xrays etc, and dentist always said there was no problem and it was something that would pass - which it always does. Anyway I thought this time it was for sure the cause, but no, it's a tooth next to it - which is also filled.
My dentist took Xrays and confirmed it was an abscess. I should have asked, but didn't...but he never said whether it was in the surrounding gums or in the root. He gave me a prescription for amoxicillin and told me if that they should hopefully clear it up and if it was still painful in a week, to go back and would need to talk about RCT or extraction.
Everything I have read online says that antibiotics alone cannot fix an abscess. I have never really had reason to question my dentists judgement and would find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have insisted I come back to do additional work if needed. Yet everywhere I read antibiotics are just the first step to controlling the infection; and that while antibiotics might resolve the problem for now, it will almost certainly come back?
Am I missing something? I have hope that I am - that maybe what he saw on the Xray was a small abscess that wasn't in the tooth and that should hopefully clear up with drugs? I saw a dentist within 3 days of the pain starting; but thinking back, there were signs that something was wrong for a couple of weeks before ,feeling my hearbeat/pulse in the tooth every now and again, that I never thought was a problem. So I got an appt with the dentist and got on the antibiotics without much delay.
EDIT: I never said what has happened since going to the dentist: I've done 2 days of the antibiotics and things already seem to be improving. I had no swelling at all before I went to the dentist, but he said my face would likely swell to some degree. There has been a very small amount of swelling but nothing major. Apart from the day before my dentist appt, I've actually not had that much throbbing pain. In the 24hrs preceding the appt, the throbbing pain was pretty intense...but it subsided at around the time the tooth started hurting when biting on it. Since then the throbbing pain has been very minimal. The worst pain is the biting down on it (the last 2-3 hrs even that has improved slightly).
What do you think?
Thank you.
Was at the dentist a couple days ago. I'd started having throbbing pain in the lower left molars (though it would sometimes feel like it was in upper left molars). Was no pain biting or chewing for the first 48 hours, but a few hours before my appt at the dentist, one tooth suddenly became very painful to touch. It was my the left "2nd bicuspid" according to a diagram on the Google. I thought the problem tooth was the actually 1st molar as it's a filled tooth that i've had sensitivity problems with for years; I've had it checked many times when it's flared up, xrays etc, and dentist always said there was no problem and it was something that would pass - which it always does. Anyway I thought this time it was for sure the cause, but no, it's a tooth next to it - which is also filled.
My dentist took Xrays and confirmed it was an abscess. I should have asked, but didn't...but he never said whether it was in the surrounding gums or in the root. He gave me a prescription for amoxicillin and told me if that they should hopefully clear it up and if it was still painful in a week, to go back and would need to talk about RCT or extraction.
Everything I have read online says that antibiotics alone cannot fix an abscess. I have never really had reason to question my dentists judgement and would find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have insisted I come back to do additional work if needed. Yet everywhere I read antibiotics are just the first step to controlling the infection; and that while antibiotics might resolve the problem for now, it will almost certainly come back?
Am I missing something? I have hope that I am - that maybe what he saw on the Xray was a small abscess that wasn't in the tooth and that should hopefully clear up with drugs? I saw a dentist within 3 days of the pain starting; but thinking back, there were signs that something was wrong for a couple of weeks before ,feeling my hearbeat/pulse in the tooth every now and again, that I never thought was a problem. So I got an appt with the dentist and got on the antibiotics without much delay.
EDIT: I never said what has happened since going to the dentist: I've done 2 days of the antibiotics and things already seem to be improving. I had no swelling at all before I went to the dentist, but he said my face would likely swell to some degree. There has been a very small amount of swelling but nothing major. Apart from the day before my dentist appt, I've actually not had that much throbbing pain. In the 24hrs preceding the appt, the throbbing pain was pretty intense...but it subsided at around the time the tooth started hurting when biting on it. Since then the throbbing pain has been very minimal. The worst pain is the biting down on it (the last 2-3 hrs even that has improved slightly).
What do you think?
Thank you.
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