I think I have a tooth abscess?

anewman

Tooth history, impacted lower wisdom tooth, approx 6 months ago decayed and had quite bad jaw pain at the time. Saw emergency dentist who used some sort of decay removing stuff and scraped it away, put in a temporary filling and prescribed two types of anti-biotics. He said I needed to go to a dentist and have the tooth removed urgently.

I went to the dentist, but the dentist basically said the only options were to pay an amount of money I could not afford unless I robbed a bank (although on income support) or wait possibly longer than 12 months for an NHS waiting list to be open and for them to carry out the procedure - I personally think he was just trying to make money out of me, using scare tactics like the neighbouring teeth may also need extraction if not removed - although I do apprectiate the NHS is a mess.

Tooth's present condition, rear of tooth is almost level with gumline and is sharp, centre of tooth is quite deep (temporary filling fell out). The gum has grown over and into the centre a few times. Currently I am experiencing pain (although not as bad as previously), particularly if I push with my tongue against the lower gum surface beneath the tooth and the last time I pushed with my tongue blood was present in saliva. I have felt with my finger and the surface is raised and feels like it has a part that has split in the middle. I have been using corsodyl mouthwash for 2 days with little effect that I can tell. A hard small piece of tooth came loose recently, but was not crumbling like I believe a decayed segment would.

Is this likely to be a tooth abscess? How quickly is it likely to need attention, given I would probably be looking at over a week for an appointment for urgent attention at the dentist I registered with and I don't think it is now open until monday?

Thanks very much in advance for any replies.

snails's_pace

pooooooorr you

as you'll see from my thread today i have an abscess and its not funny, im in complete agony
you need seeing to sooner rather than later, my infection is that bad its spread to my sinus,
we need toothsmith..(a poster on here) where is he when you need him!

Toothsmith

Why can't the emergency dentist refer you to the local Oral surgery department for removel of the wisdom tooth.

If it's impacted, very few dentists remove these in general practice these days.

absolutebounder

You have my sympathy coz finding a dentist at the weekend is not easy and yes tooth abcess will be painful
Rob a bank

Nomad25

He' s moving around the board at the moment.

On a lighter note, with all the clubs on this forum, I reckon we should start a cruddy teeth club, there's plenty of potential members. Toothsmith could be voted chairman - and anna vice-chairperson.

Toothsmith

How verry dare you!!!!

I would want nothing to do with a cruddy teeth club!!!!

anewman

I might be able to get the emergency weekend dentist to look again. Guess I just need to make out I'm in a little more pain than I really am and play up the swelling and bleeding a little.

As for emergency out of hours dentist referring me I guess if I have the opportunity to get my story across and he/she can do it then it's up to him.

Nomad25

:rotfl: oh we can give it a much poncier name if you like!

MrsTinks

I had one a few years back and an abcess is when you have gunk in there... you will know if you have this! Trust me!!! I looked like desperate Dan on one side of my face! This was not toothache kind of pain, it was off the scale! started as a dull pulsing pain which got worse and worse and worse... then it started swelling (mine was lower jaw) and it got quite big! Because I wasn't with a dentist at the time it took till next day early afternoon to find a dintist who did nothing but prescribe me antibiotics and send me home... this was saturday... Monday I was at a different dentists the minute they opened and they were disgusted he hadn't done more! At this point I was not only running a high temperature but hadn't eaten since the friday lunchtime... I was also on the verge of finding the nearest set of pliers and dealing with it myself on the grounds that no other pain could possibly be that bad!
2 days later after she drilled the tooth as deep as she could and filled it with ABs and then gave me loads more to take it was decided it was too late for the tooth, she didn't want to risk leaving it any longer as we couldn't get it to drain and the ABs weren't helping and the tooth had to come out... Turns out it was a crack in one of the roots and it had probably damaged the gum a little causing bleeding under the tooth. That couldn't drain so turned bad - the stench was horrible! As she said it might have been salvagable before it got too bad but the infection was getting to a point where she was getting worried about my jaw being damaged...

Aaaaaanyway... you will know if it's an abcess...

That's not to say you don't need it dealing with! Personally I'd go see a dentist and either get referred or see if they can remove it...
Best of luck!

msmicawber

My heart goes out to you, anewman - very painful and unpleasant situation. I don't know if this is of use to you or anyone else reading the thread, but when I was in a position of being in pain, not registered with an NHS dentist and no money to pay for a private dentist, I went to the local Dental Access Centre (found the details in the phone book) and they gave me emergency treatment on the NHS. They also found me an NHS dentist who was taking on patients at the time - 20 miles away, but he's turned out to be excellent, so well worth the travelling. In fact, so good that I'm ineligible to join the cruddy teeth club, despite being an NHS patient.

snails's_pace

oh and big hugs to op, from one abscess sufferer to another x