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Originally posted by Joseph Thompson:
Hello, I'm from WV and this makes the third time I have absessed teeth. They are all different teeth. Both of my cuspids and my first molar are the teeth I have had problems with. Pretty much I have just been putting holes in my 'bubble' to drain the infection. I ended up in the hospital once from swallowing to much infection and then it got into my sinus. But now I have three absessed teeth at once, getting used to the pain but I was wondering if there is any programs that help with dental assistance, as I can't afford to goto the dentist or a doctor for any type of treatment. Thank you!

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If that doesn't resolve the issue, see another dentist for a second opinion.

If you are still not satisfied, you may choose to contact the local component of the American Dental Association and request a "Peer Review Committee Inquiry." It is a fair, reasonable, no cost process to resolve conflicts. For a list of local dental societies, please visit:

http://www.ada.org/ada/organizations/local.asp

For more information, please visit

I've read most of these posts, and only a few have suggested that the problem is their own fault.

Well my problem was my fault. I didn't take particularly good care of my teeth. I ignored the problem until it hurt bad enough to see a doctor.

I wonder how many people here are like me, and don't floss regularly, frequently miss brushing before bed, miss regular check ups...etc?

The last thing I think I'll do is go looking for answers and laying blame on "greedy" dentists when it hurts too bad to take the pain without having blamed MYSELF first for letting it get to this point. I can assure you that my pain was more than likely because I didn't have good oral hygiene and less likely due to the fact that I couldn't afford to get help.

Just wanted to stick up for the Dentists and doctors, like my family member and Dr. Tissot, who is a good person and has a good heart. But they cannot be responsible for other ADULTS' lack of personal accountability.

If I may add to your dental epiphany. The successful patient/dentist relationship relies on teamwork. We can't expect a patient to practice good oral hygiene unless we equip him with the right tools, and how to use them. Please visit:

http://www.dentistry.com/pcorner.asp

I am currently taking the medications he has given me and plan on having this molare extracted (simply because I am so mad at the tooth for giving me this horrible pain).
Two things Ive learned:
Never fear asking your dentist for help, even on their days off.. if they are the type that gives you attitude about it, then they dont deserve you as a patient and..
try that heating pad.. its a miracle!
( dont forget to rinse with warm salt water three or four times a day after it pops)

I called a local dentist and described my problem to them. I told them I had a feeling break loose from a molar and that I had a tooth ace but nothing I cannot handle with the help of Orajel. So they make an appointment to seem me in 2 weeks. Longest two weeks I can remember.

I go to the dentist and he examines the tooth and takes x-rays. The tooth clearly has decay and the x-ray image shows the decay is dangerously close to the pulp chamber. He drills to remove the decay and tries to avoid penetrating the pulp chamber. However, he determines there has been slight pulp exposure so he applies a pulp cap (I believe) and feels the tooth. This is a temporary fix until he has time to do a complete dental evaluation of all my teeth (as I am a new patient) and we decide what to do with this particular tooth. I am scheduled for a follow up appointment in 1.5 weeks.

Well, 1.5 days later, just about bed time, the tooth just starts hurting; the most intense tooth pain I have ever experienced. I start eating ibeuprophen pills like popcorn which did not seem to help that much. At this point I would have rubbed dog **** on my tooth if it would have stopped the pain. I POUR liquid Orajel on my tooth and rub Orajel paste on and around the tooth. Seem to help for about 20 minutes.

I called my new dentist the first thing the next morning 8:30am and they made an appointment to see me a 10:00am! At first, my dentist was not convenience that the tooth he had worked on two days earlier was causing the pain. But none of my other teeth had noticeable decay or hurt when tapped on with a metal object. By 10:05am they numbed my tooth and I was out of pain. Woo Hoo. He starts to drill again and then becomes convinced that he is doing the right thing. When he penetrated the pulp chamber very little blood was present indicating that infection had already damaged/killed the pulp tissue.

Not sure what else he did but he did some additional cleaning and applied another pulp cap. A root canal will be preformed in the near future and a crown applied to the tooth.

Lessons I learned:

(1) IF one does not have a dentist, DO NOT WAIT until one cannot take the pain anymore to call a dentist. If one calls a dentist (a new dentist) at the first sign of problems one may just get to see a dentist before the pain becomes unbearable.

(2) Have a regular dentist. When an emergency arises, you will not be waiting for weeks to get relief from the pain. Also, develop a good payment history with this dentist. If he trusts you, I suspect he will be more than happy to perform expensive procedures on a payment plan.

Anyways, its pulled and gone, but I took Amox 875mg for 2 weeks before it was pulled and now on PenVK 500mg and Im still quite swollen. My cheek and chin arent squishy like the other 2 times. Its a Hard hot knot under my jaw.

Question: Now that the tooth is gone, and in addition to the antibiotics to get rid of the yucky stuff, is there anything else you would suggest to reduce the swelling?