Abscessed tooth help?

Question

I went to the dentist yesterday and found out my wisdom tooth is just starting to abscess. He gave me some amoxicillin to fight the infection but nothing for the pain. I been taking Ibuprofen but it seems less affective now. I do have some vicodin saved up from a previous injury but I really don't wanna take it unless its absolutely necessary. They can't get me in to the oral surgeon until October 2nd. Is there anything I can do or take to make more of the pain go away? I read something bout a tea bag but dunno if that works or not. Please help.

Answer 1

Hi,

You can do the following :

1. DO NOT apply heat. That will make the condition worse.

2. Apply ice as much as possible on your face.

3. Take the antibiotics prescribed. Sometimes it takes at least 2/3 days for the antibiotics to kick in. Until then you may not experience any improvement.

4. Amoxicillin is not as effective as Clindamycin for the treatment of dental abscess. Therefore, you should get in touch with your dentist and get switched over to Clindamycin, if you do not see any improvement in 2/3 days.

5. You CAN take Ibuprofen to alleviate the pain. You do not have to take Vicodin. However, no pain medication will help you that much until, as I said, the antibiotic kicks in.

6. Take at least 800 mg of Ibuprofen at a time, every 6 to 8 hours for the pain. Ibuprofen also takes the swelling of the nerve down. So, that helps in the long run to reduce the pain.

7. Also, try to go to the Oral Surgeon sooner as an emergency patient.

** Tea bags are good for controlling hemorrhage after extractions. There is no other benefit of using tea bags.

Hope this helped :)

Answer 2

YOU really need emergency dental surgery, the wisdom teeth have to come out, now!

check with a dental school if they can get you in for emergency surgery!  

Answer 3

When the infection goes down the pain will lessen.  You could take the Vicoden if you are having trouble sleeping at night at maybe 1/2 a pill.  If the ibuprofen alone is not cutting it, you could take tylenol 3 hours after the ibuprofen dose and alternate those meds-make sure you drink lots of water with that much pain med in your system.  

October seems like a long time to wait for a oral surgeon- maybe you could find another one that had an appointment in September.