Pain relief for tooth abcess

Fuzzy_Duck

Hoping someone has some suggestions. My OH has a tooth abcess- he has already seen the dentist who has put him on antibiotics for a week and he has another appointment after this time. However in the meantime he is in agony and can't go to work or even sleep. He is on both paracetamol and nurofen but neither is making any difference (painkillers don't seem to work for him at the best of times). He also tried the codeine based paracetamol but again it didn't help.

Anyone have any idea what he can do to until he sees the dentist again? It's so bad he feels like ripping the tooth out himself. He is already drinking water and using an ice pack to bring down the swelling but it's not helping with the pain. I was thinking I might force him to gargle with some salt water but he already feels so awful it'd probably just make him sick.

I want to take him to A&E in the hope they'll give him stronger meds or drain the abcess- but I don't drive so will have to catch a taxi to hospital and don't want to be wasting our time if they won't do anything for him.

Going to take a trip to the pharmacy soon to see if I can buy anything useful, and maybe some sleeping aids (though I doubt he can have any when he's taking antibiotics?) I'd appreciate any help and I apologise for a long post!

P.S. I am hoping it's okay to post this- after all he has already seen the dentist and I am only looking for some home remedies or decent over the counter products before his next appointment!

welshdent

The only thing really is to get back to the dentist who could possibly remove the nerve and place a sedative dressing which usually stops the pain. If pain killers are not touching it then there isnt a lot you can do over the counter. The hospital do not have a dental department in the traditional sense and are highly unlikely to do anything other than be sympathetic. There arent really stronger pain killers that would be given out for toothache that will do more over what has already been taken.

Fuzzy_Duck

Oh dear, I was worried that would be the case The only painkiller he's had in the past that worked was codeine but it needs to be prescribed. His doctor is in a different county and I expect by the time he got an appointment he'd probably be seeing the dentist again anyway.

Unfortunately next week is the earliest he could get a second appointment. It's a shame they don't have an emergency department as he's got a fever and I really think it would have been best if the dentist had extracted it on the first occasion. He's getting more dazed and confused from the lack of sleep every day too.

Argh. Seems the only things that would work is dosing him up with booze or knocking him out and neither is an option!!

welshdent

If you ask them at the practice if they could check for cancellations. Its worth persisting if its that bad. We usually get a few cancellations each day and the situation of the days worth of bookings can be mentally busy at 9 am then half empty by 10 if enough cancel

belfastgirl23

yeah I think at that rate I'd be taking him to the dentist and sitting with him in the waiting room till someone can see him - it isn't acceptable to be left in this level of pain.

welshdent

also dont be afraid to ring a few times a day

welshdent

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

yeah I think at that rate I'd be taking him to the dentist and sitting with him in the waiting room till someone can see him - it isn't acceptable to be left in this level of pain.

probably best to not just turn up like that but a phone call to ask if they can come and sit and wait is ok. Turning up may result in showing up and the dentist being off sick or on a course for the day for example.

pjk_3

I believe the strongest over the counter painkiller in the UK is Paramol - which is a combination of codeine and paracetamol. It is NOT the same as the cheaper co-codamol which is also codeine and paracetamol - the type of codeine used is different. So, if he's not tried Paramol (unfortunately there's no cheaper generic version as far as I am aware) it's worth a shot. I took Paramol when I had migraine type headaches and it was very effective - far better than the migraine medication my GP gave me.

Fuzzy_Duck

welshdent wrote: »

probably best to not just turn up like that but a phone call to ask if they can come and sit and wait is ok. Turning up may result in showing up and the dentist being off sick or on a course for the day for example.

Cheers guys, you're quite right there, the dentist is in a different county as well so we can't just turn up unfortunately! I did have a Google to see if there are dentists nearer us that do emergency appointments and there are a few but we'd be paying through the nose for it.

I'll give it a go and in the meantime hope the pain subsides a bit, but I imagine he won't get any relief until it's drained, so the sooner it's sorted the better.

Fuzzy_Duck

pjk wrote: »

I believe the strongest over the counter painkiller in the UK is Paramol - which is a combination of codeine and paracetamol. It is NOT the same as the cheaper co-codamol which is also codeine and paracetamol - the type of codeine used is different. So, if he's not tried Paramol (unfortunately there's no cheaper generic version as far as I am aware) it's worth a shot. I took Paramol when I had migraine type headaches and it was very effective - far better than the migraine medication my GP gave me.

Thanks very much for this, I believe it is the Co-codamol he's on at the moment. It's worth a shot!

welshdent

I would seriously be wary of taking multiple amounts of pain killers particularly paracetamol based ones. Where is the dentist based? If the pain is that bad then perhaps paying for it is better in the long term? Rather that than accidental overdoses. Dental pain is very different to migraines and other pains in its origins hence why not all pain killers work.