Problem with my tooth filling and abscess on my gum

[Sparkle1984]

10 days ago, I had an emergency dentist appointment as I had pain in my tooth - it's a tooth which has been filled twice before and seems to play up every year or two. Those fillings were permanent fillings but they don't seem to last more than 2 years.

The dentist gave me a temporary filling to tide me over, an x-ray and prescribed me some amoxicillin antibiotics as he said I also have an infection. I was also given a new appointment to go back this Friday.

I took the full 5 day course of antibiotics but although the pain has mostly gone, the abscess on my gum now seems bigger than ever. It actually got smaller while I was taking the tablets, but now the tablets are finished it's got bigger again. Was the amoxicillin supposed to get rid of the abscess, or will the dentist have to drain it? I had a gum infection a few years ago (not with an abscess, just a lot of pain) and the amoxicillin worked that time round.

I'm worried about what will happen when I go back to the dentists on Friday. I'm hoping they will be able to refill that tooth for a 3rd time, and not have to do a root canal (which I'm scared about as I've never had one before) or even remove the tooth, which would be awful as I'm only 35 and don't want to be losing teeth already!

I'm also worried about how they will be able to get rid of the abscess.

As a weird coincidence, my mum also had a tooth infection this month, but amoxicillin didn't work for her so they gave her Metronidazole tablets instead. After 4 days of taking them, she had a bad allergic reaction with an itchy rash so she stopped taking them a day early. They did get rid of the infection though. I'm worried that I'll be prescribed the same tablets and I might be allergic as well - do medication allergies run in families?

[ErinKC]

I've had all the teeth issues and I'm only 36, so don't feel bad! It may turn out that you need the root canal to clear out the infection. I needed one when I had an abscess that had turned to a sore that was draining from my gum above the tooth (is that what you're describing?) but it's not a certainty. If you need a root canal it's truly no big deal! With novicain it's no different than getting a filling because you can't feel a thing and then you won't have to worry about this tooth every few years!

I also had a tooth pulled when I was 18 because it was cracked and kept getting infected. It's near the back of my mouth so you can only see it from certain angles. Also - no big deal! I've been missing that tooth for half my lifetime. :roflmao:

You'll be ok. And, don't worry about the antibiotics. If they suggest giving you a different one just mention that you're mom had a reaction to that specific one. It's possible you could both have the allergy, but not guaranteed. My husband is allergic to all the -cillins but our daughter is not. But, there are tons of antibiotics, so just let them know.

[RadioGaGa]

I was just about to say about metronidazole (or Flagyl as our American friends might know it) but then noticed you mentioned it at the end of your post

I'm quite au fait with the filling malarkey, as I drank vodka/coke every night for 1.5y and neglected my teeth. I neglected to follow up on a temporary filling in adequate time and sadly ended up loosing the tooth as there was no other option - so a word of warning to anyone reading this is to not let too much time elapse between the temporary filling and getting the proper filling. BTW, we're talking MONTHS here, not weeks. I let it go on for months and in the interim the nerve died, then shattered one day when eating crisps and it had to be removed. I was only 23.

I'm not a dentist, but it sounds like the abscess has recurred e.g. increased swelling. This could be sorted with a course of metro or doxy but your dental practitioner may proceed with filling/root canal or extraction even in the presence of an abscess. My dentist has told me that an abscess is not really a contraindication to fillings/extraction. But, again, I'm not a dentist so I do feel a bit "out of my depth" answering your questions, despite my own experience with fillings/root canal/braces/one extraction/temporary dressings (and I'm only 25!!!)

Funny story - I did see my orthodontist who fitted my braces 12 years ago last Monday, as I never wore the retainer. (I wanted to get braces on my bottom teeth, as they're the only ones that moved). My teeth have been bleached and when I came in he actually said to me "You have a beautiful set of teeth" (exact words). When I told him about all the fillings, and he examined my inner mouth, he said "Don't judge a book by its cover" :roflmao:

With regards anxiety over extraction, my only words would be "its not the end of the world". I put things in perspective and realise there are people out there being told they've got a month to live. It could be a LOT worse than being told you need a tooth removed. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic there, because that's not my intention, its simply how I put things into perspective for myself.

With regards to drug allergies: There can be a certain genetic aspect to some drug allergies, however the penicillin allergy is not one of them. Drug allergies are a very complicated area. Drug allergies can develop "out of the blue" even if the person has taken the drug before. But penicillin allergy is not genetic, no.

Good luck (sorry for the blithering, but I do this when I'm tired!)

[Sparkle1984]

Thanks for your replies. It has helped to reassure me a bit. The abscess is on the gum right next to the tooth I'm having trouble with (on the cheek side of my gum, not the tongue side). I looked at it in the mirror a few minutes ago and I was shocked by how large it is now - I just hope it doesn't burst or anything before my appointment on Friday.

Another thing I've noticed in the last few weeks is that I sometimes feel more lethargic and fatigued, especially at weekends when I don't have to go to work. Is this tiredness likely to be linked to the tooth infection?

[Sparkle1984]

My worst fear actually happened - I had to have the tooth removed this morning. The dentist said that as the antibiotics hadn't worked, the infection would just stay there in the gum. But now the tooth has been removed, the infection will go.

When I was given the news, I was so nervous I was actually shaking and my heart rate shot up. The extraction itself wasn't too bad though as the dentist gave me 4 injections of local anaesthetic (usually for a filling they give me just one injection). I'm a bit nervous about whether it will hurt once the numbness wears off.

[Scass]

Well you got through your worst fear! Well done you! If it hurts when it wears off then take some paracetamol. You did brilliantly [emoji846]


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[RadioGaGa]

Sorry to hear that, but it was for the best.

Your dentist probably warned you about 'dry socket' which can occur after an extraction. You'll want to avoid this!!

Don't excessively suck on anything e.g. Straws/smoking etc. I can't remember the other risk factors, but Google it (I can't link as I'm on the mobile)

Good kuck

[ErinKC]

Well done getting through that! It might be a bit sore, but just some ibuprofen should do the trick. It's really not the worst thing, I promise. It's for the best to get the tooth out so the infection doesn't keep recurring. It's likely a situation like I had where somewhere along the way - probably with all the fillings and re-fillings - the tooth got a tiny crack, so there's no way to prevent it from getting infected over and over again.

You're actually lucky they just pulled it! I had a tooth that had been filled, then got infected in the same way, so they did a root canal, and a few months later the infection recurred, so they did this other horrible procedure where they clear the infection through the gum since you can't go through the tooth twice without destroying it... and, lo and beyond, the infection recurred again, which is when I finally had it extracted. So - you avoided both a root canal and any other additional procedures to deal with the infection, which likely would have still ended with extraction.

[Sparkle1984]

Thanks for your replies. It's now been a day and a half since the extraction, and it seems to be healing well so far. I didn't even need to take any painkillers once the numbness wore off. I've been eating mainly soft food, too.

Now I just want to focus on making sure I don't lose any more teeth. I think my problems with this particular tooth date back to late 2015, when I chipped the tooth when biting some hard food (can't remember what). That is when the pain started for the first time, and I had to have my first filling. I also had an infection that time as well, but antibiotics cleared it up. Part of the filling fell out early last year, and I had to have the tooth refilled. It's a shame it had to come to having the tooth removed, but at least I won't have any more problems with it.