owie... tooth issues again

[DammitJanet]

last weekend my tooth started bothering me. lower left side. I think I bit down on something hard and loosened a filling. So all weekend I was sort of rubbing that side and applying orajel. Well, Monday afternoon I called my dentist who had told me that they would see me for any emergencies before I could get down to the place for the denture work. The dentist told me they could see me at 8 Tuesday morning.

Well I had to take Keyana to dance class on Monday afternoon but on the way home, I felt the pain getting worse and worse. It felt like it was sticking a hot knife into my jaw joint and I was almost in tears as I was letting her out at her Grandma's. They actually wanted to drive me home I looked that bad...lol. I called Tony and said we need to get me to the ER because I think its now an abscess and I need antibiotics and something like a shot for the pain ASAP.

I go to my local er and they were so full I wouldnt have been seen for probably 12 hours. So Tony takes me to what is normally a better ER, HA on this night. They were packed too. In fact, it took me 5 hours and they didnt even see me in a room but in the waiting room and just checked my mouth, said yeah, looks abscessed, here are some antibiotics, some vicodin, some rx's and some paperwork! I never got an xray or anything or even got a curtain around me! Unreal.

Then on Tuesday morning I went to the dentist and took him the paperwork saying it was abscessed and told them I took the 4 pills of antibiotics they gave me, well he decided to pull 2 teeth...my last two teeth on my left side!

Then I hear these awful words...Oh no...I dont think that should have happened! Hmm. Crunch, crunch, drill drill drill. grind grind. Snatching out teeth. Sanding things down.

I could feel him just grating things with something and he says to me...that feels rough doesnt it? LOL.

Then they give me a bunch of antibiotics...stronger ones...more pain pills...stronger ones...and tell me...keep your face iced because you are going to swell and be in a whole lot more pain than normal. Gee thanks!

 

[shellyd67]

Oh Janet, I know the pain honey. I had an absessed wisdom tooth last year and my goodness it was the worst. I hope those pain medications kick in soon. And the ice does help !!!

 

[Mom2oddson]

OWIE!! It hurt to just read about it! Can't imagine how bad it actually is. Nothing hurts as bad as mouth/teeth pain. I hope the dentist was able to take care of everything.

 

[susiestar]

I am SO SORRY!!! Dental pain is the WORST!!! I hope the pain medications work and keep working! Times like that and having had a childhood dentist who did NOT believe in novacaine and would smack a child in the face or drill a gum on purpose to "discipline" a resisting child are why my father needs valium to get him INTO the dentist office - even after 25+ years of a dentist who is very caring, patient and free wtih the gas and pain medications. For years he would skip his appts - even to the point of having me or mom drop him off and then only going into the entry area, waiting until we left and then leaving!!

 

[Hound dog]

OMG!

Sounds like they might have broken the jaw bone during the extraction. Have had that happen on my left side........can still put my finger in the missing bone area. Lovely.

I've not been wearing the lower bridge because a piece of the anchor molar crumbled away. So much for Oh that's not gonna happen take my word for it! ugh I dont' want to make it worse because that's right where the metal wire sets.........so am putting back money to have him fill it. Then? He's gonna get a major piece of my mind. I warned him my teeth crumble due to the kidneys......doesn't have to be a cavity, they do it anyway, cavities only make it faster. grrrrr

Keep ice on it and take those pain pills every 4-6 hrs.......be careful not to let the gap be too long or you'll have trouble getting rid of the thumping. ugh

((((hugs)))))

 

[Jody]

I am so sorry. I would rather give birth than deal with tooth pain. Ugh. I am not kidding either. I go to a childs dentist. He is very gentle and he knows how anxious I get. If he can't do it then I don't know what I will do. I am a big baby when it comes to dental pain.

 

[DammitJanet]

Tony is furious that the guy did the extraction anyway with the abscess. I expected that when I went in and showed them my paperwork from the ER that they would probably do an Xray to make sure it really was abscessed and not something else and then send me home with orders to complete the antibiotics and come back to pull the tooth/teeth. But no, he did the pulling that day.

See, several years ago a dentist did this to Tony's oldest brother Buck and it almost killed him. The infection got into his bloodstream and his throat almost closed up completely. Buck lived alone but his downstairs neighbor noticed that he hadnt seen him for a couple of days since the dentist thing so he went up there banging on the door and he heard him grunting and the guy broke the door down and Buck was almost purple. They had to stick a toothbrush down his throat to keep it open until the paramedics got there and could insert a tube. He literally almost died and it was touch and go in the hospital for a week or more with the blood infection. So needless to say, Tony has been calling me constantly all day.

If anything happens to me, I wouldnt want to be that dentist.

 

[lovemysons]

Glad your Tony is keeping close eye on you.

Hugs,
LMS

 

[HaoZi]

Ouch! My exMIL had an extraction like that where the dentist chipped the bone. She ended up with bone infection (even on antibiotics) and last I heard it was still slowly eating away the bone itself years later. Hope you heal up fast and well!

 

[Andy]

I just had two upper teeth on the Right side (#2 and #3) extracted in oral surgery yesterday.

I have a history of abscesses so know how horrid they can get. Last Thursday night I started having trouble with my lower right jaw. On Friday morning, I went into the dentist who did take x-rays of the area, did the tap test on all my upper and lower teeth on that side and could not find anything. Sent me away with an antibiotic script in case I decided I needed it over the weekend (driving 4 hours one way to my grandmother's commital).

I ended up filling the script on my way across the state. I figured antibiotic will not harm me and if an infection was starting it better be under control for yesterday's surgery.

The pain subsided by Monday. Never did figure it out but will do more looking into if it comes back. I use to get "traveling" abscesses. Anytime I was on vacation or an overnight Girl Scout event, I would get an abcess. It hasn't happened in years but maybe this time was a mock abscess? Motrin and Tylenol alternating all weekend were my friends. Motrin worked much better than Tylenol but Tylenol was still better than nothing. I miss Orudus KT, a medication discontinued in about 2005 but was an OTC wonder drug for tooth pain.

I iced my jaw from yesterday afternoon following the surgery until today. I only took OTC Motrin twice (double the dosage) as the mouth pain was just starting and never got to the level of a 5 (0 -10 pain scale) that they told me to take the stronger stuff at.

I had a horrid time coming awake. Next time I go under I have to ask for motion sickness patch. Right now I just have chest muscle pains that are moving up to my neck which is very common as listed on the discharge papers. If I don't breath deep or cough or laugh I am just fine. Only stayed home from work because of the icing and changing of gauze.

Having the teeth removed in the dentist office instead of oral surgery I believe causes you more pain - much harder to be relaxed during the procedure and during surgery you are given a pain reliever to stay on top of the pain. It does sound like a harsh decision to pull instead of x-raying first. You are absolutely correct about the abscess. Dentists should give time for the antibiotic to take down the infection before working on the tooth. Sounds like he blocked you for a certain amount of time and instead of asking you to return and trying to fill that time with someone who was early he just filled it with your extractions, something I doubt he was planning on doing so wasn't really prepared with the tools, ect. (though it may not take the assistant that long to set up). Emergency extractions are one thing but an X-Ray to determine the exact positioning of the teeth, the length of the roots, and the level of the abscession should have been done first.

I hope you are healing well - be carefull of a dry socket and go in immediately if you feel any sharp pains again.

Did you try calling your doctor again on Monday afternoon to mention it was an emergency? Sometimes when the pain gets to that level, they will fit you in as an emergency appointment.

 

[Andy]

P.S. I was also told to keep my head elevated and to not sleep on the side of the extraction. So, I iced all night and slept on the couch to elevate my head easier - if you have a recliner, that may be more comfortable than a couch.

 

[Star*]

Well whatever they gave you for pain? Hang on to it - I may have use of some some day when I need to not make tons of sense in a phone conversation.......mwha ha ha........ahahahahahah.......aaaaaaahahahahah .........

Okay then.....ahem.

Hope you feel better.

 

[AnnieO]

Janet, I'm with Tony. I would be FURIOUS.

My dentist - has been since I was about 15 - has instructions with his office that, if I call and say I have an abscess and need antibiotics and an appointment, they call in to Walgreens my amoxicillin, and appointment is 10 days later. Because - if you are opened up with the infection going? It is SO EASY for it to get into the bloodstream.

Take ALL of your antibiotics. Keep an eye on it. And I would not wish tooth pain on my worst enemy, much less my friend!

 

[DammitJanet]

Andy, by the time the pain got to the level it was so bad, it was after 5 and my doctor office closes at 5...and sometimes earlier than that if they arent busy...which just shocks the socks off me! What if I need them in an emergency? oh yeah...go to the ER...blech.

I am praying that nothing goes wrong with this. I changed to this new dentist from the one who pulled a tooth about 2 years ago and chipped something and I had pieces of bone coming out and I had to go back in and they had to go back in, reopen the socket and pull out bone fragments and smooth things down. That was hideous.

I still have a lump and am taking my medications religiously. I hope it settles down. I still dont know how I am going to eat. So far I am surviving on milkshakes and vienna sausages.

 

[flutterby]

Did he tell you what the "oh no" and the grinding was all about? I'm betting the tooth came out in pieces, but am wondering what else it could be on top of it. Maybe they had trouble getting the roots? Never good to hear that from a dentist.

Hope you're feeling better.