Infected tooth while pregnant?

Question

I'm 6 months pregnant and am pretty sure I have an infected tooth. It has been broken for a long time but never given me any trouble. (No pain, swelling gums, etc.) I know I need to go to the dentist or emergency room but all I have is Medicaid. I was wondering if I did go would they be able to pull the tooth or do whatever they need to do w/ me being pregnant? The funny thing is that I AM on antibiotics rignt now (today is 7th day) for a UTI I had/ have. But the tooth still seems to be getting worse even on the antibiotics. I am going to call my provider & doctor but I worry about until I can get in.

Answer 1

call your dentist. Necessary dental surger is ok while pregnant. It's the elective and non emergency stuff they won't do. I had a wisdom tooth bugging my badly at around 3 or 4 mths and had it pulled no problems. They'll most likely use Tylenol 3 for a pain reliever. As far as your insurance goes - check to see if there are any dental clinics in your area that take your insurance or would provide a payment plan you can work with.

But overall - call a dentist!

Answer 2

I'm a dentist. Treating pregnant patients can be a little tricky. That is, deciding when to treat and when not to treat is a matter of comparing the potential risks of rendering treatment with the potential risks of witholding treatment. To try and simplify matters for dentists (who are not exactly experts where obstetrics and fetal health are concerned), there are some protocols for treating pregnant patients. They are as follows: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters, emergency work is permissible at all times. "Emergency" means pain and/or infection involved. 2nd and half-way through 3rd trimester, routine work is permissible. As far as you are concerned (and as far as your dentist should be concerned), being in constant, severe pain is not good for your pregnancy. Neither is being on narcotic pain medications (which DO cross the placenta and reach your fetus). Hence, the question at hand is this: does the wisdom tooth need to be extracted or not? If it is badly decayed, then the answer is "yes". If your pain is coming from inflamed gingiva around the wisdom tooth (called "pericoronitis"), then the answer is "no"--i.e. the gingiva can be treated with antibiotics and an antibacterial mouth rinse, and perhaps a simple surgical procedure where the gingiva is trimmed off. It would have been helpful if you told us what the doctor thought was causing your pain, and why he didn't treat it.

Answer 3

I'd recommend going to the dentist and asking for a temporary filling if you can afford it. Sometimes temporary fillings last years. The doctor will tell you it won't, but it can. Don't eat or drink mixed temperatures, for example don't drink cola or ice water with your bubbling pizza. If you choose to have your tooth pulled out instead then you can chew on a clove to reduce the pain. Clove as in spice not garlic. Cloves have a natural pain killer and if you just chew it on your gums, it should work like a topical anesthetic.

Answer 4

It is normal to have teeth problems while pregnant. Go to the dentist instead of emergency room. They might be able to pull your tooth to make you feel better.

Answer 5

its best to see a dentist b4 pregnancy but if you are in pain go ahead and do it now. the novicain wont hurt your baby, but if you get your tooth pulled you might haveto rely on tylonol or ib prophen for the pain. vicodien wont be good. good luck and i hope you feel better. see your dentist

Answer 6

My wife had that happen. The ER probably won't do it - they'll give you painkillers and suggest you see a dentist.

Sorry to hear, very painful.

Answer 7

If it is painful biting down on a tea bag will help subside the pain.....