Toothache - any advice?

painkillers?

Dentist?

Poor you, toothache is all consuming when it is bad

Look on NHS Choices website or phone 111 (assuming you're in England). Phone your own dentist, or any other dentist, who should have an emergency number on their answer phone - it's part of their contract!

Drink whisky!

Ibuprofen 400mg 3 times a day is the best if you can take them.
Otherwise paracetamol 500mg.
Don't reduce the dose, it will not be as effective.

Oil of cloves really helped me to get through a weekend until I got to the dentist.

I've also done the cold water bit, I thought that when the water warmed in the mouth it then lost it's effectiveness, so I had a big bottle with ice in it topped up with water and just kept swigging and swilling. That got me through a few hours until my emergency appointment.

There is usually a 'local' Dental Emergency Walk In Clinic. Ours is 20 miles away and it is open for a couple of hours evening/weekend/bank holiday.
Ringing our dentist gives us the number and the details.

Dentist told me that Ibuprofen is the best pain relief medication for dental pain.

Good luck - dental pain is agony.

Thanks. I tried 111 and after the young man had asked me many questions, he recommended seeing a dentist within the next three days .

That first swig of whisky is still having an effect. Also Boots Pharmacy have recommended a gell so fingers crossed.

Oh thanks, more replied whilst I was typing.

Gnet is wonderful!

Toothache is hell. Good luck petalllus. I've read that cloves works.
Meanwhile keep taking the whisky. . Hope you can get to a dentist soon.

I had a toothache for months and nothing showed up on x-rays. Until the tooth finally split through a hairline crack and half fell out, I lived on clove oil, bonjela and nurofen in rotation!

Same here. The tooth has been mildly troublesome for months but my dentist could see nothing wrong. It really hurts now so something is going on.

I've sent DH out for clove oil and Ibuprofen.

The whisky still seems to be doing the trick (held against the tooth, not swigged) and although I've never cared much for the taste before, I find it is growing on me!

Try to see the dentist asap.
I don't mean to be alarmist, but poison from a tooth can affect other organs in the body.

Had a similar problem while on holiday in France , a couple of weeks ago,a friend recommended gargling with Listerine, mainly in the troublesome tooth area, & taking Ibuprofen. It worked till I saw the dentist a few days later. It was an abscess in my case, so was prescribed Amoxycilin (spelling? ) hopefully you can get to see the dentist very soon.

When I had an abscess I was taking Ibuprofen and Paracetamol alternately, sort of 10am 2 Ibuprofen, 12.00 2 paracetamol, then 2pm, 2 Ibuprofen , 4pm 2 Paracetamol. Once I got the antibiotics it started to get better quite quickly.

A fellow sufferer here, petallus. I split a tooth and lost a filling two weeks ago. I already have an appointment next Friday and the blighters won't give me an emergency one. I can't drive to the Emergency Dental Clinic because I'm spending every day at Mum's nursing home where she is clinging on to a small fragment of life

Keeping going by alternating ibuprofen and paracetamol, mouthwash, anbesol and a glug of whisky at bedtime - not in the day because of all the driving I'm having to do. The bit of tooth that has split away is driving me mad because it's quite loose and the the temptation to wiggle it with my tongue is overwhelming but I know it will make it more painful.

Hope you get it sorted soon. Drives you mad doesn't it?

I shall be phoning the dentist first thing tomorrow morning.

merlotgran sorry to hear about your mother.

try reflexology, press your index finger tip with the opposite one on the side where it hurts. apply pressure on and off. go right down to the first joint with pressures. Aslo press your centre of palm with thumb of opposite hand in circular movements this helps relaxation and general wellbeing. There are many other things to do but the fingertip is the most effective. Foot reflexology is better but it is not comfortable to bend and touch your own foot unless you are extremely thin or vey agile which most of us aren't. Hope it helps but u need to phone dentist tomorrow

You need a dentist I am afraid, be brave and get it over and done with Good luck

Hope you see the dentist today petallus - it sounds horrible.

A piece of cotton wool soaked with oil of cloves, put on the offending tooth and gently bite down. Tastes ghastly but it deadens the nerve for a time. Then reapply, by this time you will get used to the taste. . Oh yes please see your dentist of course, this combined with painkillers will keep you sane for a while.

An update: I went to the dentist yesterday who took an x-ray and said the tooth had died and the root had become infected. She could not carry out any treatment until the infection had been dealt with and gave me antibiotics.

I like to think I'm fairly stoical but the pain was excruciating. Luckily it was partly relieved if I held icy water on it. Nothing else helped much. Then suddenly last night the pain went. It was bliss.

Later it will be extraction or root filling.

Warmth makes the abscess expand so that it presses on the nerve and ice shrinks it and relieves the pressure. Isn't that right Janeainsworth ?

I suspect it's more counter-irritation, Elegran. Personally I have more faith in the tablets
Glad you're feeling better Petallus

A bit of a numbing effect too, perhaps. Not a long-term solution, though.

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