So in a nutshell, my questions are --

Is Trimox affective for an absessed tooth?
Should I be extra concerned with the neutrapenia?
Should I be concerned with my problem of antibiotics not working affectively? (I honestly don't know which ones don't work, but they did a test on an infection on my leg once and the results came back that I am resistant to some antibiotics. I can't remember the name of the test.)
Should I be concerned with the obvious worsening of the symptoms? (I couldn't see the redness and inflamation last night, and can clearly see it now, and see it goes across several teeth area of my gums, which also bleed like crazy if I touch (touch, not badger) them.)

Thank you SO much for your time. I promise if there is nothing for me to be concerned about I will become patient. I just want to stop worrying.

I am scheduled to see the dentist for the first time on Wednesday (today is Saturday and I called yesturday). I took the inititive to get on the antibiotic via my Dr, knowing that it should give some relief after awhile and that I could never have waited until Wednesday to START working on the infection. Neither my Dr or Dentist are available for questioning until Monday, that's why I came to you.

If your dentist chooses not to initiate clinical treatment immediately, ask for a referral to the appropriate dental specialist (such as an endodontist, oral surgeon or periodontist, depending on the condition).

I have the same problem. A front tooth started to come loose. It was abscessed.
On Monday my dentist pulled the tooth at 1:30. By 4:30 the pain was unbearable. My husband called him and he prescribed a pain reliever. Tylenol with codine. It worked somewhat after a good hour but would wear off abruptly in less than 4 hours. By 6 PM my face was swollen bad. My neck, cheek, lips and nose were bulging like a cave man. The next day I went back to my dentist and he prescribed Clindamycin Hcl 150 mg capsules. He said I had a bacterial infection. Today is Thursday and all the pain and most of the swelling is gone. I think the Cllindamycin took effect within 12 hours. I don't feel too good. I just want to sleep. But I think I am slowly getting better.

http://dentistry.com/VIP_KeystoneState.asp

Last year, March, 2004, I went to the dental clinic (I have no money or insurance) for an infected front tooth, and they did a "pulpotomy" instead of a root canal. That did work fine--it was only supposed to be temporary (they said to wait for a return appointment, but they didn't tell me it would never come, because they have a "waiting list" for patients, and I was likely never going to get onto the regular patient list) but a year later, nothing else had been done. The tooth began to irritate me about a month and a half ago again, but every time I called, they said there was no emergency dentist that day, and I never got in. I had some left over Amoxicillin which I took, and it seemed to help--the pain subsided for a while, but then both sets of lower back teeth (bottom) began to suffer similar pain, and I was getting frantic.

I finally got hold of the emergency clinic, and I got scheduled for Thursday night. The same dentist who had worked on the tooth a year ago was the one who was working on it this time, and I'm sorry, but the man was incompetent. He had to call in another, more senior dentist the year before to do most of the actual work, but this time, he did it, without assistance, and without proper anesthesia. I also suspect he was rougher than he needed to be with the small brush or whatever it was he was using to infiltrate the tooth pulp. I went home afterwards without ANY after care instructions, without ANY thing at all. Ten minutes after I got home, I was in tears and massive pain--so much so that I had to call the regular hospital and see what they could tell me. I was told if the pain was horrific to go to the ER. I tried going to bed (around 9:15) but at 11:30, I was still lying in bed awake, crying and in pain. I drove to the ER, where the best they could do was to give me some pain pills, and send me home. Yesterday morning, I called the clinic again, and told them I wanted to see another dentist, immediately, and no excuses. I ended up arguing with them, because they said the earliest appointment was at 5:30 last evening, and I said, NO WAY. So I went down, and they finally gave me an appointment at 10:30 yesterday morning. So when I went back, the new dentist said she couldn't do anything with it, because the swelling and infection was so bad that she said the anesthesia would not work, and gave me a prescription for Clindamycin and Tylenol with codeine making another appointment for me for this coming Tuesday.

I now possess an entire infected lower front jaw affecting most of the entire mouth, but in particular the 6 front teeth area, with one tooth (the front left) being the main culprit. It's rock hard in texture if you touch my chin area, and seeming to spread out a little at a time. I just took my third Clindamycin, and third Tylenol #3, and all I can do is wait it out with some sort of stoic resolve, even though I feel so bad that if I had a gun, I just might use it.

- sure enough, about two weeks later, my cheek began swelling from about my tooth line up through to my nose and the bottom of my eye with pain to go with it;

- went back and we decided to do the root canals;

- had them done Friday afternoon. Pain began Saturday morning along with some swelling in my cheek but not quite as much as before.

- finally called my dentist on Sunday morning and started on Clindamycin Sunday afternoon (300 mg 4x a day).

It's now Monday night so I've been on the antibiotic for 6 doses with almost no relief. Is this typical? Is the antibiotic not working? How long should I continue with this antibiotic before trying something else?

Thank you.

quote:

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Originally posted by Jeffrey L. Wissot, DDS:
Dear R Goldman,

Consider getting a referral to an endodontist (RCT Specialist).

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Also, I was wondering....what type of dentist do I need to get all dental work done (including root canal & general cavaties) that has sleeping gas (laughing gas doesn't have any effect on me). I would like to simplify all the work by using only one dentist to get all work done before this contract job ends and I run out of insuranc, AGAIN (this keeps happening to me and no matter how much I try to take care of my teeth the more work I will need since I never have insurance long enough to get it all done in seperate appointments). Can anyone help me out with this? I would be most appreciative of it...thank you in advance

http://dentistry.com/dentfind.asp

Use the Advanced search and check "nitrous oxide."

1) The pain sucks - but it does go away, I promise. There is little worse than the pain involved with an Absessed tooth. Hydrocodine (Vicodin) is about the best pain medicine that any dentist will ever perscribe to you so go ahead and take it - it doesn't make the pain go away but it makes you not care as much and most importantly it makes you sleepy so you can just try and sleep it off until the antibiotics kick in.

2. Antibiotics are good. Clindamycin is rough on the stomach and might make you feel real nautious all the time - but ask yourself this - would you rather have some nausea and be over the severe toothache in about 72 hours or have that toothace get worse and worse every day. Like I said - Antibiotics are your friend.

3. And a couple of tips to alleviate the pain outside of the medicine are (from personal experience):
a) Elevate your head while you sleep. Chances are you are not sleeping well - this should help some.
b) Ice Ice Ice! 20 minutes of icing will usually net about 60 minutes of relative comfort - on the "bad nights" this might be all you can do - ice, sleep for an hour, wake up in pain, ice, sleep for an hour. Rinse. Repeat
c) Buy Sensodyne toothpaste - This is designed for sensitive teeth, it has a pretty good numbing effect. When I am having a terrible toothache I usually wake up to brush the tooth with this stuff at least 5x a night
d) Keep busy. If you can avoid it, don't stay home from work or school or whatever and feel sorry for yourself. It hurts less if you stay busy and have your mind on other things - I promise.

And lastly - your not alone, thousands of others are going through the same thing right now. It sucks - but its temporary. It will get better, you will have the root canal and you will be happy again.