Abscessed tooth! Face is swollen! Has anyone ever died from this because the pain is killing me?

Question

I'm on antibiotics and Vicodins and as many Advils, Aleves and aspirins I can swallow. Can't get into dentist until Tuesday! What can I do to get through this? Any suggestions? Please help!

Answer 1

http://www.myhomeremedies.com/static/abcessed-tooth.html

This is a good site for home remedies. Back off on all the drugs though you're liable to die from overdose.

Answer 2

It will take a few days but trust me the antibiotics will kick in and you will feel so much better. Also try alternating ice packs and a hot rag, both of those seemed to help me some. This is just about the worst pain there is, I think it even competes with having a child with no pain killers ~been there. Sitting up lessens the pressure some so try sitting up as much as you can. It is very rare for an abscessed tooth to kill you but if left untreated any infection has the possibility of causing death. (The reason your dentist is having you wait is because they will not extract or do a root canal on an abscessed tooth until you have been on antibiotics for a week.)

Answer 3

The answer to your question is.....yes. Always remember, pain and inflamation are your body's way of telling you something is wrong. Your body probably new you were sick before you did.With the onset of an infection, the immune system mobilizes and starts fightng an internal struggle with many different enemies that it knows are dangerous and potentially fatal.
With an abscesed tooth, the area of infection is of great concern. Not only the obvious: sinus, ears, nose and throat(whitch are soft mucus membranes) but the not so obvious as well. An abscess is a type of necrosis(dead or dying tissue) and along with pain and inflamation, puss occurs as well. Here lies the danger, with an external abscess(boil,fistula,sty....) the discharge(puss) is expelled outside the body. With an internal abscess(tooth,sinus, bone, lymph nodes.......) the poison is internal. the puss is essentially pure infection. With ingestion or absorbtion, your immune system not only has a "localized"(tooth) area to combat, it must then contend with the possibllity of a widespread infection. In other words....you are swallowing "Poision" when the abscess discharges into your body which can result in "Septicemia", or an "Infection" through out the body which is potentially deadly if not treated wirh antibiotics immediately, and even then, a person may not fare well. Now..the good news...Your doing best thing you can..."Antibiotics". Coupled with your immune system, a positive outcome is almost always achieved. About the only thing the dentist can do, is "lance" or "drain" the infection which should take some "Pressure" off the affected area. Most people who've never had one, don't realize, that the dentist generally won't treat the source of the problem (i.e.- tooth) until the infection is under control or has completely subsided. Sometimes a cottonball with a local anesthetic resting in the generalized area can sometimes bring some temporary relief. One warning about the "NSAID"s(non steroidal anti-inflamitory)(tylenol,advil,etc.), although the warning is very clear in the litature, most people don't realize that permanent liver damage and potential complete liver failure can and does occur with very large or repeated dosess of these drugs.

Answer 4

There have been instances, rare however, to die from an abscessed tooth, but that is if the infection is so extreme, and depending on the location of the tooth, that it spreads to surrounding tissue and cause enough swelling to affect your airway. But if you have been on antibiotics for at least 24 hours, and your swelling has gotten bigger, go to the emergency room immediately! do not wait until tuesday. It is possible that you might need to have the abscess drained if it has come to that. It will help release the pressure built up under the tissue, which is primarily why you are hurting. Once the pressure is released, you'll feel much better. Again, i dont know since i havent seen you, but if warranted, the emergency room will put you on IV antibiotics to get the infection down quicker.

Be careful!

Answer 5

Don't worry, I just had a tooth cut out of my gum and had stiches to sew the hole up. That was last week and I was in bed for three days. The only thing that helped me was pain killers, call your dentist and tell him you have to have pain killers because you can't make it. I had to go a month in almost your same condition.

Don't worry about getting addicted because there were nights the only way I could sleep was taking 2 1/2 loratabs and basically passing out. It might help if you get an icepack and put on the outside of your mouth, if that hurts, try a warm pack.

I feel so sorry for you sweety! If you still can't get any relief from the pain zappers you're taking, try some Tylenol PMs because the only time I got relief was sleeping.

Answer 6

You poor thing - toothache is the pits, isn't it?

How long have you been on the antibiotics? They should begin to work within 24-48 hours after taking them. If it has been longer than this and you are feeling unwell (ie. have a fever and feeling 'flu-ish'), then you really need to get seen asap. Try calling NHS direct if you are in the UK?

If you have only been taking the antibiotics for a day, give it time - they should kick in soon.

Careful about taking more than the recommended doses of painkillers though - and I'm not sure you should be taking aspirin and anti-inflammatories at the same time as both can irritate your stomach. Try the anti-inflammatories with paracetomol instead?

I know it sounds mad, but a mouthwash made up of a teaspoon of salt in water as hot as you can stand will help. It will hurt like hell whilst swilling with it, but it really does help the pain afterwards and will encourage the nasty stuff out of the absence and help with inflammation.

All the best.

Answer 7

My friend, I hear you loud and clear,I feel your pain far away. Here is my two cents and I am sure that will help you.Can you find any dentist that will do work for you on Saturday and he or she can work it out with your insurance dentist that you will have on Tuesday. If not you have to wait for 4 days before you get help. I urge you rest and watch video or cable 24/7 because, it is painful as it can be.Have an ice pack put on your face and keep it on and off. A sleep will help also.Please try another dentist and let his or her deals with your dentist.I send my full support to you and drink a lot of water and eat soft food or soup. Do not run around the tooth pain is beyond any descriptor and I wish you the best. No one die but the process take too long in my personal opinion.

Answer 8

Keep with the prescribed antibiotics. This is needed to bring the infection down. Stop taking any aspirin products because this will cause your blood to thin making it difficult for a clot to form once the tooth gets extracted. If the infection does not go down by Tuesday, your dentist or oral surgeon may opt to do what's called an incision and drainage before extracting the tooth. In your situation, there's a better chance that you could die of overdosing on painkillers. Please be careful. Vicodin is a narcotic that is highly addictive and should only be taken as prescribed. I feel for you...I really do.

Answer 9

I would seek another dentist, perhaps a referral from your regular dentist, or take him out of the mix if he's putting you off. Maybe he does not realize how much pain you are having. Infection if treated should start subsiding, but if a tooth is abcessing it is too risky to wait that many days, unless the professional has told you it is hurting more than it is dangerous. I still might get a second opinion, just to be on the safe side.

Answer 10

Continue taking your antibiotics as prescribed. They need to have the swelling down before they can take out the tooth or perform the root canal in order to get the anesthesia around the tooth. Give the antibiotics 2 days to fully get in your system. If it has been that long and the swelling isn't going down then you may want to let the dentist know in case they want to change your antibiotics to something stronger. Good luck--it'll get better. And don't take the antibiotics with alcohol because it makes the antibiotics ineffective.

Answer 11

My bloke's been suffering with absesses 4 a few months now. he says he agrees that the antibiotics dont work and that if u can see the bubble of the absess on ur gum try popping it like a spot, once some of the puss comes out it feels a bit better but the only real cure my bloke found was to take the tooth out.