Is this one for the Doctor or the Dentist?

bootman

My 9 year old has a very round bulging lump on his upper gum. It looks like a red pea with a very small while pimple in the middle.:eek:

He has not complained about it and says it does not hurt. Could it be a abses?

Anyway, do I take him to the doctors or dentist. Not sure. Or will it go on its own?

sali_mali

Take him along to a pharmacist and they'll let you know after having a look. I used to work in a pharmacy and the pharmacist was always happy to help if someone was unsure whether or not they needed to visit the doctor. Then you won't waste an appointment by going to the wrong person

tonytooth

Hi there. This definitely sounds like a dental abscess, probably relating to one of your sons baby teeth.... a trip to the dentist is in order me thinks. Best not to leave it as it can cause damage to the underlying permanent tooth, if it hasn't already.

Toothsmith

Dentist definitely.

Anything in or around the mouth is the job for a dentist.

As Tony said above, probably an abscess. Damage to teeth underneath is highly unlikely, but it should be checked out and treated before pain comes along. (Most likely 10pm on Xmas eve!!!!)

JennyW_2

bootman wrote:

My 9 year old has a very round bulging lump on his upper gum. It looks like a red pea with a very small while pimple in the middle.:eek:

He has not complained about it and says it does not hurt. Could it be a abses?

Anyway, do I take him to the doctors or dentist. Not sure. Or will it go on its own?

funnily enough my mum had a really bad pain in her gum giving her toothache, however she couldn't get to the dentist so popped to the doctor. He confirmed it was an abscess and prescribed some antibiotics.

Toothsmith

JennyW wrote:

funnily enough my mum had a really bad pain in her gum giving her toothache, however she couldn't get to the dentist so popped to the doctor. He confirmed it was an abscess and prescribed some antibiotics.

This tends to be what doctors do for anything in the mouth!

I've even heard of them doing this for lumps that turn out to be oral cancers!

Antibiotics will take away the symptoms but will not cure the problem.

The cause is a dead nerve within the tooth. A dead nerve has no blood flowing round it, so there is no way antibiotics are taken into the cause of the problem.

It just calms down the infection that leaks out through the root.

Sure as eggs is eggs it will return, and when it does, it may well be accompanied by pain.

bootman

Thanks everyone, I will ring the dentist in that case. I don't like wasting appointments thats why I wanted to check.

Katykat

Toothsmith, perhaps you can answer my query. I am a triage nurse, I deal with many quries regarding dental problems, usually because our patient cannot access a dentist. One poor chap this week was in agony, he also had a painful lump in his gum. He had rung his dentist ( private I think) and was told to "get antibiotics from his doctor, then book an dental appointment when the swelling has gone down" I was appalled. Is this a way for private dentists to keep their profits up?, It seems to me that this appearred to be a dentist who has not signed up for the NHS contract, but it quite happy for his patient to use the NHS for prescriptions. Am I wrong ?

Oscar

bootman wrote:

My 9 year old has a very round bulging lump on his upper gum. It looks like a red pea with a very small while pimple in the middle.:eek:

He has not complained about it and says it does not hurt. Could it be a abses?

Anyway, do I take him to the doctors or dentist. Not sure. Or will it go on its own?

I take it the 'pimple' is not hard? If it is it could be an adult tooth pushing through!!

Toothsmith

Katykat wrote:

Toothsmith, perhaps you can answer my query. I am a triage nurse, I deal with many quries regarding dental problems, usually because our patient cannot access a dentist. One poor chap this week was in agony, he also had a painful lump in his gum. He had rung his dentist ( private I think) and was told to "get antibiotics from his doctor, then book an dental appointment when the swelling has gone down" I was appalled. Is this a way for private dentists to keep their profits up?, It seems to me that this appearred to be a dentist who has not signed up for the NHS contract, but it quite happy for his patient to use the NHS for prescriptions. Am I wrong ?

Private you think?

If you aren't sure, then this is a pretty damning accusation to make. Why do you 'think' it's a private dentist?

Patients are pretty unreliable people to get stories from. Personally, I would have asked for the name of his dentist and then rung up the practice to find out what was going on.

When did this patient last see the dentist? Maybe it was before the dentist went private, and he hadn't been back since. If he wasn't still registered with that dentist, then the dentist had no obligation to see him at all.

Maybe he knew that there were some doctors who refuse to treat dental problems, so he just made up a story in order to get the antibiotics, and in reality he hadn't been near any dental practice for years.

If this was a regular patient of a private dental practice then what on earth does the dentist have to gain by treating him like this? Did that thought occur to you?

If a patient has accepted that he has to now get his treatment in the private sector, then he can go to virtually any dental practice he likes - it's not like the NHS any more where you are lucky to be on the books and you have to put up with being treated like cr*p for fear of being deregistered.

If indeed a private dentist did treat him like that, then he should have gone down the road to another one who would have been pleased to treat him.

The fact he turned up at a place that would get him out of pain for free suggests to me that he was spinning a tale, and will be doing the same in a few weeks time at another medical establishment when it all flares up again.

Unless of course, blood poisoning or an obstructed airway kills him first.

Do not always accept everything a patient tells you at face value. Investigate further, and always check both sides.


Edit - PS.

NHS prescriptions for antibiotics are the biggest rip-off around. I have been writing private prescriptions for years, as the local chemists dish them out for £2.50 instead of the £7 odd of the NHS charge.

Now I've not got an NHS contract anymore, I write private prescriptions for the patients who would normally pay prescription charges, and GIVE OUT FOR FREE antibiotics to the patients who would before have claimed free NHS prescriptions.

I can buy 21 x 250mg Amoxycillin for PENCE, so it would hardly be a dent in anyone's profits to see somebody with a toothache!

Katykat

seems a bit harse Toothsmith, to attack me in this way. Firstly, I dont always take a patients word for it, but you have a give them a degree of trust, and although there may be two sides to a story, it isn't my job to investigate this particular dentist. Who was private, because the patient told me he was, and because we have a particular problem where we live in registering with NHS dentists. I thought I was investigating anyway by asking the question of you. I dont kmow the patients history with his dentist and I dont want to know, Doctors have enough to do without dealing with Dental problems. Up to a couple of years ago, we got requests for antibiotics because the patient "couldn't be bothered" going to the dentist. We ALWAYS tried to " encourage" them to go as they probably needed more treatment. We even had one Dr who advised a patient to go to the Vet because he knew more about teeth ( his tongue was in his cheek might I add) The situation really irritated me. Now, however, patients request antibiotics because they cant get to see an NHS dentist, or they cant afford private treatment, and we have to be sympathetic, but this request was a new one on me, just thought I'd try to understand it.