Really bad toothache, probably a tooth abscess

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Over the past week, I've been developing a really bad toothache in my upper left corner of my mouth (the backmost tooth). The tooth has got a crack in it, and it seems like an abscess (deep infection) has formed in it. The tooth is really painful, especially when sitting or lying down, and less so when standing. The pain is throbbing, like the tooth has its own heartbeat. Applying things like warm salt water and ice packs have not really helped. It makes it very difficult to sleep at night, and I've slept only 3 to 4 hours the past couple of nights, with the help of Motrin and Norco, which are not always effective. Luckily, I don't seem to have developed a fever.

I've been trying to get an emergency appointment with my dentist but they've had no availabilities. I tried walking in to see my primary care doctor, but they said I needed to go to the emergency room, so I went. They prescribed antibiotics and more Norco. This was today, and I'm waiting to see how things pan out.

I am keeping an eye out for these symptoms:

* Fever
* Swelling in my facial area
* Difficulty breathing or swallowing
* Cannot open my mouth

If I see any of these symptoms, I will call an ambulance and return to the emergency room.

Here's to hoping I get better.

I'm sorry you dealing with that beneficii. My girlfriend has some bad teeth & gets infections occasionally. She used to always just deal with it by drinking alot of orange juice(or similar things) & wait it out. I'll suggest drinking orange-juice(or similar) &/or taking vitamin C supplements. You can actually take a lot more than what the bottles say & won't have any negative effects as long as the supplement is mostly C instead of a mix of other things.

For a tooth abscess antibiotics are much better than pain killers.
In the short term their will be a spike in pain, because the dead bacteria turn into pus and increase the pressure.
But in about 2 to 3 days, it will start feeling very very good. (If it doesn't, they've given you the wrong antibiotics).

That's only a short term fix however, if the tooth is not canalled or removed, the abscess will come back.
Antibiotics are sadly not a permanent cure.

But they should buy you enough time to get a dentist.

And yeah, tooth pain can be a real shocker.

Wow! And I was impressed with my own toothache. That's terrible, what you're going through. Do they sell Ora-Jel where you live? The Emergency Room seems to have done the right thing (I think). The antibiotics should bring down the swelling, which would be necessary no matter what you do next. And they've given you a list and an offer of further treatment - does that help, I mean emotionally? Have you been able to sleep?

Here's to hoping you get better! Keep us posted.

Toothaches are nasty. I’ve been through them.

I hope you get a root canal soon. That’s the best treatment.

Did they give you Tylenol 3?

I’m sorry you’re going through this.

Update: So I'm almost finished with my antibiotics, but at times the pain gets really bad still, even when I'm standing up. Right now, even as I'm standing, I have this throbbing pain in the left side of my mouth.

Motrin, Norco, none of that stuff works. Hydroxyzine helps a little, by making me so sleepy I go to sleep despite the pain. I do get respites from the pain on occasion.

I walked-in to the dentist's office on Monday. They were supposed to have sent in an emergency referral to see a specialist to be processed by Thursday (yesterday) by my insurance. But nope, insurance never got it. So now I gotta find out what happened to my emergency referral. If it hasn't been sent yet, then I will have to wait 72 hours from when it actually gets sent, which means more time suffering in pain. They are probably completely inflexible in that regard, so if my dentist screws up I suffer.

I now wonder if the lump (which I'm not sure if my dentist saw or not) I developed a few weeks ago on my palate is an abscess. Here it is:

Alright, since yesterday, the pain has really let up. Phew. I just finished my antibiotics this morning.

What happened to you as a result? Were you able to visit the dentist and deal with your problem? I'm just really curious about the ending of your story. I also had problems with one tooth. A very severe pain on the right side of the gum began abruptly and I did not know what to do. I usually don't visit the dentist because I didn't think it was especially necessary. Therefore, I did not even know who to contact. It was lucky that my friend visits the dentist twice a year and he was able to advise me the Seminole dentist service who could help me solve my problem. True, I still remember the pain that I experienced because of one small tooth. As a result, my tooth was removed and an implant was placed over time. How did your tooth problem end?