Gum infection.. can’t see a dentist until Tuesday, slightly worrying..

[little.miss.worry]

So I haven’t been on here for an awfully long time and overall I’m doing very well anxiety wise. Although, I’ve now encountered what seems to be a little set back. I’ve got a gum infection and I can’t see the dentist until Tuesday because it’s bank holiday Monday so they’re shut this coming Monday. I’ve had the infection for around 3 days and I’ve been gargling salt water; using corsodyl mouthwash and it’s getting worse slowly because now my lymph nodes in my neck are swollen.

My issues is, I read things online haven’t I which have set my anxiety off 🙄 saying if it’s not treated quickly it can lead to bone infections, sepsis etc. I know deep down it won’t come to that but I’m just worried that 4 days is an awfully long time to wait when it comes to infections. So rationally I know I’ll be fine I’ll just keep with the salt water and mouthwash routine but then the anxious part of me is really freaking out.

What I want to know is basically, is the anxious part of me over reacting? Because surely I’d only get a bone infection and sepsis if I left the infection for weeks and weeks and not just around a week? Reassurance is needed right now.. thanks for anyone who replies! :)

[BikerMatt]

You won't get sepsis. Every area in the UK has an out of hrs dental service though. If you don't wan't to wait until Tuesday then google the service for your area. I know in my area it's open from Mon-Fri 19.00 to 21.00 weekends and bank holidays 14.00 to 16.00. I had to use mine last year after a tooth i had prepped for a crown got infected.

[little.miss.worry]

You won't get sepsis. Every area in the UK has an out of hrs dental service though. If you don't wan't to wait until Tuesday then google the service for your area. I know in my area it's open from Mon-Fri 19.00 to 21.00 weekends and bank holidays 14.00 to 16.00. I had to use mine last year after a tooth i had prepped for a crown got infected.


So in other words I’m slightly overreacting then :blush: I’ll see how I go, if it does get to the point where it’s unbearable I will call out of hours but I’m hoping it won’t come to that. Thank you for mentioning that though, I would have never thought about the out of hours service

[unsure_about_this]

I agree with Bikermatt, if it bothers you there will be a contact number for you to phone. I had problems with my mouth over Christmas years ago.
Even though the dentist could not treat me not being my dentist he could give some spray which helped until I saw the dentist/doctor after Christmas. I did need a root canal doing

[Carys]

Yeah, he's right - everybody has access to emergency dental treatment if they are in pain and suffering. I have used it once myself; I called through to my usual dentist and got the out of hours number, who saw me in a couple of hours time. As it happened I had an infection around a wisdom tooth gum that was unbearably painful (though at the time I thought it was a problem with the tooth).

[little.miss.worry]

Brilliant thank you all! It’s good to know if worse comes to worse it can be sorted if I can’t wait until the Tuesday

I’ll definitely see how I go with it

Thanks again everyone!

[BikerMatt]

Salt walter rinses are your best bet. Corsodyl really stains.

[little.miss.worry]

Salt walter rinses are your best bet. Corsodyl really stains.

Ah damn, does it? Okay I’ll stick with the salt water rinse then, thanks! :)

[Carys]

I know deep down it won’t come to that but I’m just worried that 4 days is an awfully long time to wait when it comes to infections.

Stick with what your 'deep down' says, your 'deep down' is right !

The body deals with minor infections all the time, many of them we don't even know about....bacteria are coming and going willy nilly lol Our body is designed to do it and fight things - it is only if infections don't clear or get substantially worse that antibiotics are needed. I generally try to treat minor infections at home for some time, before seeing anyone, infact thinking about it I've only had antibiotics once in the last decade. Mind, I'm a bit of an 'antibiotics are overused' person, and worry about them being over prescribed.

You won't get anything remotely sinister happening from a gum infection in a few days, and many are self-limiting and will sort themself with some home treatment. Some people have infected roots in teeth for years and nothing happens.

Depending on where it is you could also try gently massaging the gum upwards, as there might be some food stuck there causing it. If on Tuesday you are struggling and its bad you can go then, and yes, you do now know that you can get seen out of hours if it becomes worrying or very painful.

[little.miss.worry]

Stick with what your 'deep down' says, your 'deep down' is right !

The body deals with minor infections all the time, many of them we don't even know about....bacteria are coming and going willy nilly lol Our body is designed to do it and fight things - it is only if infections don't clear or get substantially worse that antibiotics are needed. I generally try to treat minor infections at home for some time, before seeing anyone, infact thinking about it I've only had antibiotics once in the last decade. Mind, I'm a bit of an 'antibiotics are overused' person, and worry about them being over prescribed.

You won't get anything remotely sinister happening from a gum infection in a few days, and many are self-limiting and will sort themself with some home treatment. Some people have infected roots in teeth for years and nothing happens.

Depending on where it is you could also try gently massaging the gum upwards, as there might be some food stuck there causing it. If on Tuesday you are struggling and its bad you can go then, and yes, you do now know that you can get seen out of hours if it becomes worrying or very painful.


You do make a good point actually and I now feel a million times better about it thank you! I agree with you about antibiotics being overused and it’s not a good cycle to get into to keep taking them etc because I went through a couple of years being on and off antibiotics and it honestly made me worse because my immune system was basically none existent in the end I think :blush: so I tried to change it around by taking immune tablets and I gradually got better and this is the first time I may need antibiotics in 2 years so I’ve started the immune tablets again because I’ve been really stressed lately due to exams and such at university and I’ve been so run down. And of course, stress is not good for the immune system.

And that’s true, it’s such a small thing isn’t it. Painful but it’s not life threatening. What I’m going to try and do is just do things over the weekend to take my mind off it. Because when I used to have really bad health anxiety I’d just sit and my room and think about the ailment I had which made things worse. So I went swimming tonight and didn’t think about it once which is great

I’ll try massaging the gum also, I never thought about that either. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it :D

[MyNameIsTerry]

Agree with Matt & Carys. You might even find if you rang your dentist number out of hours it would give you a message for out of hours practices (I know vets, doctors, etc do this). You should find emergency numbers will be on your local council website too and probably your local NHS trust website.

I don't go to my GP's unless I can't shift an infection. I've had several throat & chest infections that I've beaten naturally with higher strength vitamin C dosing (not mega dosing though) and it took a bit longer than antibiotics but it's the first time I had gone without them (my asthma has also meant antibiotics were needed in the past) but you do need to mindful of spreading dosages and the maxs per dose as the body doesn't hold that much so wastes a lot. I'm not advocating that over treatment but it won't hurt to add some in if you want to.

I had a gum infection due to shattering a tooth a few years back. I went over a week before seeking treatment as my anxiety was really bad already so I couldn't face the dentist and it took some pushing myself to just get on with it. I did need a second course of antibiotics as the first didn't quite do the trick and it came back but it easily did the trick.

My brother went even longer with an absess in the mouth. He did end up with some mild issues (he went a bit yellow!) but again they treated him very successfully with no issues. Whilst I don't believe for a second you would get like that I'm just mentioning it just to say that even as things worsen it's not always the horror stories that frequent the internet & media.

[palomine91]

Told you, should have Bonjela. Lol