More dental drama

I am currently feeling somewhat zombified, so I make no apologies if what I'm about to type is full of spelling mistakes, or seems like a load of gibberish.

Within minutes of waking this morning, I was straight on the phone to my new dental practice to book an emergency dental appointment. For the second time this month, I was in considerable dental pain.

Given the amount of pain I was in, the dentist decided to write a prescription for Erythromycin and Metronidazole (antibiotics), with instructions to take both antibiotics together. He explained that it would be akin to taking a fortnight's worth of antibiotics within the space of a week, but that it should help to alleviate my pain more quickly. 

After leaving the dentist, my son called in at an independent pharmacy for me, whilst I waited outside, yelping in pain. Unfortunately, they were out of stock of one of the antibiotics. My son's intention had been for us to try our local Boots pharmacy, but I was doubtful that we would be able to make it there before it closed. Knowing that we would need to walk through our town centre and that there was a Boots pharmacy there, I felt it made more sense to head straight to that branch.

I am not normally one to make a scene in public, but upon hearing that Boots also had no stock of the same antibiotic, I broke down. I wasn't really crying as such (there were no tears), but the combination of my dental pain and growing frustration was such that I had to let it out audibly (loud, tearless sobbing). This resulted in the pharmacy assistant checking to see if any other Boots pharmacies within the area had both antibiotics in stock. They didn't. The pharmacist then phoned an independent chemist in a local village. Yes, they had both antibiotics in stock and would put them aside.

As time was ticking on, my son knew there was no way I would be able to walk to the village before the pharmacist there closed, but as he has a fast pace of walking, he knew that he could. It was therefore agreed that I would make my way home without my son. I am not sure how long it took me to walk home (a distance of just over 1 mile), but I felt incredibly relieved when my son arrived home (with the antibiotics) about 10 minutes after me. The distance from our town, to the village, and then to our home is just under 2½ miles, which proves just how slowly I had been walking, and how quickly my son had been walking.

The good news is that within 30 - 60 minutes of taking my first dose of antibiotics, I had stopped yelping in pain. I've since taken a second dose, along with a couple of co-codamol tablets, so am crossing my fingers that once my head hits the pillow, I'll be out for the count until the morning and won't awake in quite as much pain. 

For the record, it's the combination of the antibiotics and co-codamol that is making me feel somewhat spaced out.

  • So kind of you to be thinking of other's. Don't worry about responding, now is time for you to focus on yourself and recovering.

    I'm sorry you had a flare up of pain.. I hope that's the last flare up you have now.

  • During the early hours of yesterday morning (Thursday 31st August) when I happened to be awake, I thought it would be a good time to respond individually to the members who had commented on this discussion.

    Regrettably, after responding to the first member on the list, I had a flare-up of dental pain. Fortunately, it eased off enough for me to return to my computer and respond to the second member. As I was part-way through responding to the third member, I experienced another flare-up, which lasted for several hours.

    I would like to apologise to the following members for being unable to respond individually to their comments. It was nothing personal, and your comments were appreciated just as much as the ones that I had managed to respond to:
    , @NAS88626 (Interface)  , @NAS88360 (Katy Chocolate Lover), , @NAS85641 (A=BCD)

    Also, .

  • Dental pain is the worst! My mum had a case where a particular tooth kept getting infected over about a three year period. Every time she would be prescribed antibiotics but she'd had enough and asked to finally have it removed. She was told that they could only offer her a slot three months from that point. Being in a lot of pain, my mum was seriously considering going private even though money is tight for us. Thankfully, she happened to call again a couple days later and they had a drop out the following week so she managed to get that appointment instead on the NHS.

    My mum also had a colleague who faced a similar situation (severe tooth pain but no sight of an appointment soon). She flippantly remarked to the receptionist on the phone something along the lines of "are you sure there aren't any earlier appointments? I might kill myself this pain is so bad" and suddenly they could fit her in the following week :// However for the next couple of weeks she got calls from her GP checking that she didn't have any suicidal ideation.

  • Just a reminder of Rule 13: Users should not provide medical or legal advice to other users. Giving medical or legal advice can have serious consequences, even if you're trying to help another member. Please suggest they get advice from a professional.

    Best wishes

    Liz Mod

  • My son is of the opinion that the Amoxycillin prescribed by the emergency dental practice earlier this month wasn't strong enough to completely clear the infection.

    It looks like it is the top choice though:

    https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/best-antibiotics-tooth-infection-3555997/

    There are several antibiotics that kill the common mouth bacteria that cause tooth infections. The best (first-line) antibiotics for tooth infection include:

    The best antibiotics for tooth infection are known to fight the bacteria most commonly found in your mouth. When your dentist prescribes one of these antibiotics, the choice will depend on whether you are allergic to penicillin or have other issues.

    Amoxicillin is often the first choice because it is widely effective and has the fewest gastrointestinal side effects.

  • Thank you, Roy.

    I can honestly say that I would have been in a right old mess on Tuesday if it had not been for my son. He was an absolute' Sparkly diamond' last night too when I had an intense flare-up of pain, just as he was in the process of dropping off to sleep. I had asked if he could come downstairs and give me one of his wonderful hugs, which he did without any complaint. When I'm in pain, I find that my son's hugs can be incredibly comforting.

    Anyway, I have an appointment booked for 28th September, which is meant to be for an initial check-up. My fear is that I could end up with another infection before then, and that is the last thing I want. I don't know if I have become less tolerant of pain as I have gotten older, but I can safely say this has been the most severe dental infection I have ever experienced.

  • Thank you, Iain. You're not wrong about me needing the dental work done soon. I have a bottom molar towards the back, which needs to be extracted. The tooth had been filled 10+ years ago, but more recently a chunk of tooth around the filling broke off.

    My son is of the opinion that the Amoxycillin prescribed by the emergency dental practice earlier this month wasn't strong enough to completely clear the infection. Either way, I currently feel like there is a right old battle being fought between the antibiotics and my dental infection.

  • I'm glad you have your son.

    Get well soon. I hope you'll be on the mend soon.

  • Feel better Sparkly. Hope things improve.

    Good that your son helped you.

  • You're writing was as excellent as ever . I'm glad you're ok, take it easy now so you can recover and don't worry about feeling spaced out. It will wear off and then life will return to normal. Your son sounds a credit to you, I'm glad you have him by your side. Take care. Look forward to seeing you here when you can.

  • Hi Sparkly sorry ur struggling and feeling a bit spaced out RN my mum was just the same after dentists work she couldnt drive cause she was so spaced out ur son sounds like a total legend looking after u. I hope the antibiotics continue to help and ull be feeling less spaced out and no pain soon take care xx

  • Hi Sparkly, so sorry you are suffering at the moment, at least you have an emergency dentist to go to now. Your son sounds like an absolute diamond, a Sparkly diamond! Hope the antibiotics kick in properly soon and you’re feeling better.  When the infection clears please don’t leave it this time, I know how you feel about dentists but this infection is just going to reoccur. Take care.

  • Hello Sparkly, it sounds like you really need that dental work done soon - I hope the new drugs help get the abcess under controll so they can get in and get antibiotics into the roots that are causing the problem.

    I recall my dentist educating me when I had a similar issue to you that prolonged infection will consume the bone structure behind the tooth leading to anything from the tooth falling out to your jaw breaking at the weak point. Maybe it was scare tactics but it worked and I got the work done as soon as the antibiotics ran their course.

    In my case it was a root canal that had been poorly done and where they had left a small amount of the dead nerve in a curve of the roots it had decayed and become infected. The fix was fairly easy - take out the filling, pack in some antibiotic wadding to the root to make sure it was dead then schedule a re-do of the root canal work (at £900 a root that was expensive).

    Luckily it doesn't hurt - just the discomfort of having your mouth open for a long period of time and the sound/smell of the drilling. I used headphones and music to keep me distracted.

    The worst bit is paying for it LoL.