It won’t get better on its own. Go to a Dentist straight away, whereupon they may well give you a prescription for antibiotics to take the swelling and infection down before they can operate. My dad was a Dentist, we used to get people turning up at the door like that all the time. A few years ago I ignored a broken finger. When I eventually went to the Doc, then hospital and told them everything tastes weird too they immediately injected me with antibiotics. Apparently I would have been dead by the morning from septicaemia if I’d left it any longer. One of the early signs of septicaemia is it effects your taste buds.
The one I had on the other side did get better by itself, but this one is worse. I don’t feel nauseous or dizzy today and it’s not as painful, but my face is still very swollen. I’ll call the dentist when they open at 9. That info about septicaemia making you lose your sense of taste is interesting. I didn’t know that.
I didn’t until they told me, so watch out for it. Generally speaking if it gets better it’s only for a while and then it comes back…. Worse!
I had a tooth removed still with the abcess present. Found later that pain relief doesn't work in that case, so it was absolute agony as it was pulled. Swallowed all sorts of horrible stuff then my jaw locked. Pain was so bad it put me off dentists for a couple of decades. Get it sorted ASAP
That other tooth isn’t there any more as I pulled it out myself and posted about it on this very forum: So what have you done today..? I’ve called 111 and am waiting for a call back from a clinician both about the abscess and the paracetamol overdose
@Zhed46 please get yourself checked out and treated ASAP. Until recently knowledge about Sepsis, it's symptoms and potentially deadly and rapid deterioration was shockingly lacking in some parts of the medical profession. I've been hospitalised twice by peritonitis which can rapidly lead to sepsis. The first occurrence of this was whilst on a group tour on the way back from the Dolomites back in 2019. I wound up in Hospital in Sedan on the French/Belgian border where they couldn't offer the care I needed so they transferred me to Reims by ambulance under blues-and-twos. Total of 8 days in hospital on IV antibiotics with a sepsis diagnosis after MRI scans etc. The second time I recognised the symptoms as familiar and went to Drs* early, from there straight to hospital and 5 days of the same. *Dr looked at my records and saw that I had diverticular disease which had been added after a well-man check colonoscopy at 55. They didn't inform me of this at the time... This informed his decision on sending me to A&E with a suspected bowel perforation. He was right. I'm now better informed about diverticular disease and it's potential issues, that I'd already experienced first hand. I've adjusted my diet and recognise symptoms of complications of both the disease itself as well as the further consequences if it gets that far. I've had occasional DV flare-ups since, that I've coped with by further temporary dietary changes. So far I've avoided any more hospital visits. Travel insurance has doubled in cost with DV as a declared condition but cover for this when abroad is vital so a small cost to bear all things considered.
And when they do, mention you're willing to pay for private dentistry, assuming you are, and you may find they become a lot more helpful....
Waited 4.5 hrs for a callback which never came and as the pain and swelling was getting worse, I phoned 111 again. Long story short - because I had disclosed I’d taken too much paracetamol 2 days ago my case got diverted into a bureaucratic cul-de-sac, but in any event, even if a medic had called me back, all they would have done is told me what I already knew about paracetamol poisoning from looking on the internet myself and then put me back in the queue to speak to a dental specialist, who in turn would just have given me numbers of local practices. Wtf? I could have, and indeed have now, done that myself. What a fucking waste of time. Literally. It has wasted most of the day. Thankfully I managed to get through to a local practice and I have an emergency appointment at 5.
Welcome to the Kafkaesque world of dealing with the NHS... and pretty much all government departments. I've being meaning to post the trials & tribulations with organising Mrs Bees consultant referrals but tbh it's too difficult & painful to actually remember the process.
It is an abscess and a pretty serious one too. There’s also a fair bit of bone loss so it’s got to come out. They can’t do it under a general anaesthetic, or rather there’s a two year waiting list for that, so it looks as if I’ll have to be a brave boy and let them do it under local. Given how loose the tooth is, I don’t think it’ll take much force to extract it, thankfully. Antibiotics prescribed. I felt at ease with the dentist (although she forgot to date the scrip, and I had to go back) so I’m also going to get her to do a full check up so any other urgent work can be done at the same time as the extraction. Thanks for the advice and kind words everyone
Good man... although I reckon the bravery required to pull ones own tooth is on a level way beyond letting a professional do it under a local. I've had loads of trouble & work with my teeth & gums and a good dentist can make a local pretty pain free by numbing the area with the lidocaine or some such before injecting. And the stuff they use nowadays works pretty damn fast. One further tip, close your eyes & keep 'em closed as soon as you get comfy in the chair... Can we assume you won't be wanting a quarter of (boiled sweet) pineapple chunks too soon...
Hopefully your dentist will have more sense than mine and wait until the abcess has reduced before pulling the tooth
It’s going to be a while yet anyway as she has a full diary for the next few weeks and I want to have a full check up first to see if there are any other issues that need to/can be dealt with at the same time.
I couldn’t see her face as she was behind me and masked up, but she certainly replied in a very disapproving tone of voice when I told her about extracting my own tooth. It sounds more gruesome than it was tbh as it had half broken off at the level of the gum line, so I just broke the rest of it off the root and free from the gum tather than pulling the whole thing out of the jawbone. That’s not to say there wasn’t any pain, blood or a pretty loud crack, but it wasn’t like one of those tales you see in the Readers Digest where someone has to saw their own leg off in order to escape from a well or something.
First thing I had an appointment with the nurse at our medical centre.......it seems to be one medical appointment after another at the moment. Had bloods done and BP done - 112/74 - so its too low and probably the cause of my recent dizzy spells. Ive now got another appointment with the doctor on Friday to see if I need the dosage of my meds lowering to sort that out. Also had a cholesterol test. Had a call from the Therapy people and I've been referred/accepted for a 1 to 1 therapy course.......just waiting for a therapist to call me and arrange the first meeting. The rest of the day I've been running around town doing boring stuff......and when I got home our American Bulldog had thrown up on the new rug, so that's to get washed at a launderette tomorrow. FML.
Lying back unprotected with a masked lady over me with a stern voice and showing disapproval at my actions.... she sounds like my kind of girl
Out and about in beautiful Split last night. It’s a great time to visit, everywhere is open the weather is good and the crowds have largely gone home. Over to the island of Hvar tomorrow.
Still feel like shit. Face swollen, tooth/jaw very painful, under the weather and to cap it off, this morning, one of the antibiotic tablets got stuck halfway down, dissolved (presumably) and has given me terrible heartburn. However, the packaging the pills came in specifically states that you shouldn’t take indigestion remedies at the same time (IIRC, they inhibit absorption of antibiotics), so it looks as if I’ll just have to wait it out. Anyway. FML
