Emergency Dentist/Toothache Cures?
lost_one1990
Posts: 248 Forum Member
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Hey everyone 
For a while now I've had a chipped/cracked tooth at the back of my mouth, over the past few months its turned black, and there isn't much of the tooth remaining now. I've had toothache on and off during this time, but over the past couple of days, I've coughed so much (from having the flu) that I've given myself excruciating toothache, to the point where even touching the side of my face is extremely painful, it's like a sharp pain going up the side of my face to my head, and the gum and tooth are extremely painful, leaving me in constant agony.
I've been taking painkillers all day every 4 hours, as well as rubbing bonjela around the area every few hours too, but the pain right now is making me want to cry!
Do dentists do emergency appointments, or am I likely to have to wait for weeks/months to get an appointment? I know last time I went they said it was full and I had to book a slot months in advance!
Also does anyone have any magical tips for helping ease the pain of toothache? Even if temporary?
Cheers guys
For a while now I've had a chipped/cracked tooth at the back of my mouth, over the past few months its turned black, and there isn't much of the tooth remaining now. I've had toothache on and off during this time, but over the past couple of days, I've coughed so much (from having the flu) that I've given myself excruciating toothache, to the point where even touching the side of my face is extremely painful, it's like a sharp pain going up the side of my face to my head, and the gum and tooth are extremely painful, leaving me in constant agony.
I've been taking painkillers all day every 4 hours, as well as rubbing bonjela around the area every few hours too, but the pain right now is making me want to cry!
Do dentists do emergency appointments, or am I likely to have to wait for weeks/months to get an appointment? I know last time I went they said it was full and I had to book a slot months in advance!
Also does anyone have any magical tips for helping ease the pain of toothache? Even if temporary?
Cheers guys
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Comments
Phone the dentist first thing but for tonight have you any whiskey in the house
On a piece of cotton wool on the tooth it can numb the pain for a while
Thanks for the reply ducky, I think the dentist here is closed tomorrow according to their website
I don't have any whiskey unfortunately
The annoying thing is that I keep touching it and trying to press on it to stop the pain and I'm not sure if that's a good thing to do or not!
all of my cheek is very sensitive now and even opening my mouth hurts a lot haha! Really should not have left it this long
I'm really shocked anyone would leave a tooth to blacken like that, over months, I assume you have a dentist? Make an emergency appointment, I've no doubt you'll get a row for not doing anything about it... This resulting circumstance was inevitable! However, I can't see why you wouldn't get an appt that day, standard procedure for such events, just call early and get a slot!
Good luck!
I never really found any home remedy worked, but like you said 'pushing it down' kinda relieved it a little for a minute or two, I tried, cold packs, hot water bottles, whiskey, vanilla essence, cloves, salt water, jeez I went mad trying anything I could on top of strong painkillers... Nothing helped me... Until, with a temp of about 104, I was told to go to hospital, getting it drained and numbed, was such a relief!
If it becomes intolerable tonight/tomorrow, it might be worth checking out emergency dental facilities in your area. We had a little unit at the hospital, you could visit at weekends and evenings... Check it out, incase you are in a bad way tomorrow!
Any Brandy or Vodka ? They might work . You could try holding a warm lavender cushion against your cheek to relax it . Toothache iis awful and can make you clench all your muscles
I went to the dentist briefly about a year ago, had a temporary filling put in which lasted a couple of weeks, they started finding more and more things though and it was getting way too expensive.
This time around, I just haven't had the money to do anything about it, I'm in a lot of debt, and dentist bills are really expensive. It didn't cause me any pain for a long time so I just kind of forgot about it really and carried on. It's only recently its really flared up and become incredibly painful. I can feel that the gum is all swollen above it too and stuff.
It's my own stupid fault anyway, years of depression growing up for various reasons and not really looking after myself (including brushing) have caught up with me, and even whilst I have remedied all of that now, I'm paying the price for it :P
I just really wish this pain would go away because I'm so close to crying haha!
Thanks for all the advice guys
Toothache is the worst. As stated by others, it may be infected or you may have an abscess. Keep an eye on your temperature and if it gets too bad then give A&E a call, some hospitals won't deal with dental but they will be able to tell you where to get emergency help over the weekend.
There is a Listerine Pain/Sensitive mouthwash that has a temporary numbing effect. There is also a Sensodyne Pain Relief tooth paste. Don't brush with it, just put some on your finger and paste it all over the affected tooth and gum area and then just leave it there. This will offer some temporary relief, it won't kill the pain completely but hopefully (along with tablets) it will take the edge of enough to make it a bit more bearable.
Get an emergency appointment with the dentist on Monday morning, if it is infected you may need a course of antibiotics to clear it before he can do any repair work.
Good luck.
I remember a few years ago, i got toothache, it was so bad i wanted to cry, at one stage i couldn't open my gob, but being a typical man i didn't go to the dentist straight away and the only thing that kept me sane for those couple of days before i went to the dentist was clove oil, it works almost straight away and lasts for about 30 minutes up to an hour and then it takes time for the pain to come back fully, but i must stress, clove oil should only be used for a short time, as it can deaden the nerve, so just use it for temporary relief.
I recently had a broken tooth at the back of my mouth having not seen the dentist for about 2-3 years. Sounds bad but the last time I went, the dentist asst passed me an ice cold mouthwash when the inner part of a tooth was exposed and it really spiked a pain threshold that day. Since then, that side of my teeth is sometimes sensitive to the cold where before I could easily crunch ice cubes.
I had been on top of my brushing since and the tooth that broke occasionally got food in it despite my care. I knew my dentist was going to be sarky and decided to take whatever he gave me. I was also given a temporary filling and can appreciate how you might have thought that it corrected the problem because it felt fine where before it was also sensitive to the cold and started to ache. Up to that point, I also was taking painkillers, a particular strong one that I used to use for migraine as just paracetamol or nurofen doesn't do it for me. And like you, despite getting it fixed last week, I've had another potential filling pointed out to me, but I'm pleased that it got done, just think that you'll won't have to ingest all those painkillers and generally being more comfortable. Ask the dentist of any finance plan they might have to help with payments.
In the meantime I tried all the usual remedies. One was a teabag (dunked in hot water first) placed against the area. Didn't work. Rinsing with warm salt water helped a little. Didn't have any clove oil. Orajel numbed it briefly as did an anaesthetic throat spray. The very best was Sensodyne toothpaste plastered over the area, left as long as possible (till I was foaming at the mouth!) then spat out (not a fan of anything with fluoride). This would actually leave me pain free for several hours. I carried that toothpaste everywhere!
PS mine turned out to be a gum infection and a 3 day course of Metronidazole cleared it. The dentist also cleaned the area and saved the tooth. How I wish I had gone earlier. These things have the potential to have a far bigger health impact. Please get it sorted even if you seem to be beating the pain.
As for finances no NHS dentist here so on Denplan. Not cheap imo but at least no unexpected big bills.
I had a broken tooth a couple of months ago and was advised to phone 111, they took my details and got back to me with an out of hours appointment at a dentist in the next town, they gave me painkillers (extra strong) and antibiotics until I could get to my regular one, so give that a try too. For temporary relief I used clove oil dabbed on the tooth and around the gum.
Depending on how much tooth you have left you can get "cement" from chemists that can be placed on a broke/cracked tooth and it lasts a few days if done right. It's basically an at home filling.
Defo give 111 a ring and see if they can assist you.
OP - hope you're feeling a little better if not optimistic today.
I have a book about Acupressure. This is about certain pressure points you press, to alleviate pain. I find it has helped me for my back pain. Here is a link for Toothache.
http://www.herbalshop.com/Acupressure/Acupressure_03.html
Good luck with the dentist.
Another vote for clove oil.. But I kinda liked the taste. Some may not like the effect as a breath freshener though.
For swelling/inflamation, ibuprofen works for me. Other alternatives are a good'ol fashioned hot compress. So soak flannel in hot water and press firmly against area.
Temporary DIY fillings aren't always a good idea.. If pain's from an exposed nerve, they'll cover it and stop you poking it with your tongue (why do tongues do this?). If though the tooth/pulp is infected, all it'll do is stop it draining.. So pressure builds up, presses on the nerve(s) and you'll regret sealing that off quite quickly. And they're temporary, and usually applied in less than clean conditions so an infection is likely to start off anyway.
So not much one can do except find a dentist who can fix it properly. Oddly when I cracked a wisdom tooth & discovered that was quite infected, I got it fixed by a private dentist who charged less than my NHS one did for a regular filling. Craziest bit was discovered a private prescription meant I could pay cost for antibiotics & painkillers (about £2) rather than the much higher NHS charge. That doesn't seem right to me.
That's often the case where medicines are cheap. My private dentist prescribed antibiotics for me but asked first if I got free prescriptions but otherwise a private prescription was cheaper.