Decaying tooth, Someone PLEASE help me

[bev1234]

Can't stop worrying about this tooth. I know everyone has told me to be calm about it and that it will be okay until my appointment but what if it isn't? I have never tried looking at the hole where the tooth is until today. An let me tell you it is BAD. Looks yellow/black from what I can see. and the hole is deep in my gums. i know that sounds disgusting but oh well. It has been hurting all day. I am terrified. I feel so gross too.

[evagisele]

I just started going back to the dentist after years. I had two abscesses. The one that sent me to the dentist was one that had hurted me on and off for about a year and then suddenly developed this pimple like pus pocket on the gum. I had such bad health anxiety that I was afraid of getting dental x-rays for fear they'd find some rare cancer.

Now, I actually like going to the dentist. Today, I had the permanent crown put on the infected tooth I mentioned. I've had root canals and I've had an extraction with standard novacaine. It really doesn't hurt. It's just wrestling those HA demons and getting to the dentist in the first place. You'll be fine! I worried, too, about infection spreading to my brain. Keep us posted. Prayers and positive thoughts your way!

[laura124]

Call your dentist and see if you could come in as an emergency call tomorrow.  This will put you out of your agony!  If you really have an infection they're going to have to give you a course of antibiotics before they can do anything any way.  I have had numerous dental issues in the past and beside being in pain, have not had any other complications.

Here's one that happened about 2 years ago:  I have a molar with a root canal and crown on top.  Well, I never knew that if your crown isn't fit properly, bacteria can get under it and decay the tooth.  Remember, I have no nerve in this tooth so cannot feel pain.  Well, the crown pops out one day so I save the crown and run to the dentist.  The stupid dentist I went to never bothers to do an x-ray to check for decay and just glues the crown back on and sends me on my way.  Within a week, I'm experiencing horrible pressure, pain all over--jaw, neck--the pressure was so intense I felt like my head was going to blow off!  By the time I get back to the dentist I have a big bubble pimple looking thing on the side of the tooth and the dentist doesn't even take the crown off because of the infection--just sends me on my way with antibiotics.  So I couldn't even get it pulled until the infection was gone.  I was even scared to get it pulled with an abscess because I thought the infection could spread through my body.  But guess what, I survived just fine.

Please call your dentist and get an emergency appointment (believe me they CAN get you in) and get it assessed and don't chicken-out because healthy teeth are so important for your overall health.  Plus, it's not fun to live with a toothache.

[LindaRK]

I've had a similar experience to laura ..... I've had an infection that they couldn't find for over a year.  You wouldn't believe what I had to go through for them to find it and it still didn't show up until a tooth was extracted.

I agree - call for an emergency appointment so you can get it taken care of and not have to suffer through this.  There is obviously something going on from your description ... it's not like you're imagining it!

[bev1234]

Thank all of you guys so much for your replies. I thought about trying to get in the emergency clinic but honestly I would rather try to wait for my appointment. The pain isn't too severe, it's just annoying pain. I'm so scared that I won't know if the infection has already spread. Do you guys think I I wait until the 31st for my appointment that I will still be okay? I mean, do you think if it were anywhere close to spreading to my brain/blood/etc that I would know it first? Wouldn't there be unbearable pain or at least like you said if the nerves are dead, tons of swelling and pressure? Or will it be a sudden thig that can't be fixed? And thank you so much for the prayers. That's so nice d you and I really appreciate it :)

[Hohum]

You will be fine to wait for your appointment. If the infection was spreading you would be in EXTREME pain, then you'd feel so sick you would not be here wondering about it. You'd have gone off to the hospital for some aggressive antibiotics!

Stay away from the horror stories on the Internet - I can't stress that enough. People get infected teeth every day and it's fine. As many in this thread have said from personal experience, they had really bad teeth and there was no problem. My teeth were infected for 20 years and I had no problem...in fact during my most recent checkup I found out that the bone has grown back in my jaw! Apparently this hardly ever happens in adults so I was very lucky.

99.9999% of these stories don't end in doom and gloom, they end in some dental surgery and a much healthier mouth as a result. Try to focus on that rather than the scaremongering stories. Only a few more days!

[bev1234]

You're right, thank you for that. I just get so worried that because the tooth is decayed all the way up in my gums, (there is not much tooth left, just the root part) that this will cause infection to be worse, spread faster and even be closer to the brain and such. Also, the nerves might be almost dead so what if  it is worse than I am even imaging? Do you think any of this makes a difference in the probability that I will be fine?

[aunjypoo]

My boyfriend had a root canal a couple years ago, they didn't crown the tooth (I don't know what they were thinking). And it broke, half of it at the gum line and a little ways in to it. It was one of his molars. He hates the dentist, and is also mr tough guy so he never went to have it looked at.. It looks awful, and I personally don't see how he's not in pain every single day (His root is gone so not so much his tooth hurting but the area around it). He is perfectly fine two years later.. It's definitely not something you should ignore but you are also going to be 100% ok waiting.. I know a girl with pretty terrible teeth, decaying all over and I'm a registered dental assistant so she comes to me with questions about her abscessed teeth. She has never had one pulled or went to the dentist for it and she is still alive and kicking as well.
You'll be fine!

[InTheMoment]

As someone who has had multiple, deep infections/abscesses, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that YOU WILL KNOW when the infection has gotten to the point of concern.  The pain I had was not annoying or bothersome -- it was excruciating, blinding, stop-in-my-tracks pain.  Worse than any other pain I have ever had -- including 30+ hours of un -medicated labor and giving birth to a 9 lb 7oz baby. 

Now -- having said that, there's also no reason to NOT get in earlier if it's possible -- not because the infection will get out of control, but there's not reason to live with any sort of dental pain if it can be eliminated with antibiotics and simple dental work.

Good luck to you.

[fmfdoc]

I work in the Dental Field. I think they will extract that tooth, because by the sounds of it, its already a dead/Infected tooth

[bev1234]

Yes it definitely has to be extracted, there's nothing left to save.

And I understand what you're saying about how I woul know for sure if it was severely infected. I have had one tooth that had a bad infection and it was unbearable. I couldn't even think straight because of the pain. It wa pure torture. I had to keep it about a week with the infection and by the last day before I had it pulled, I was pretty bad- getting dizzy, even seeing blurry. So I try to focus on that fact to make myself calm down and know that f it were that bad I would know. Thank you so much for the reassurance.

And to the person who reied about your boyfriend's tooth, thanks for your response too. That situation sounds almost identical to mine. Location in the mouth wise and everything. Mine is also up in my gums and I honestly can't even feel much of the roots left.. It comforts me to know that he has been like that for that log and is still okay.

Thank you all for your responses. I'm feeling a lot more calm about it now.

[evagisele]

I'm not sure how long it would take to show up on an x-ray. I know when I went to the dentist in October '12 for the first time in years, the x-ray showed that I had an abscess on tooth #2, which was decayed so badly that I barely felt any tooth left in it. However, that tooth wasn't even what sent me to the dentist (didn't hurt at all). After I took two rounds of penicillin for tooth #12, which was why I went to the dentist. Then, I noticed weeks later that my neck swelled on the side of tooth #2. So, over the course of a few weeks, tooth #2's infection apparently got worse enough to cause that. I had yet another round of penicillin, and I'm getting that tooth pulled next week (swelling went down weeks ago though). The neck swelling is what brought me to this forum. It TOTALLY freaked me out, but the dentist was very calm about it, as was my GP. I guess this is typical. And my dentist told me that it's rare for infections to spread to the brain or blood. I will be so glad once #2 is extracted, even though it doesn't hurt. You'll be just fine. Don't worry...I know, WAY easier said than done! :)

[LindaRK]

Glad you know what's going on - if you've got a dental phobia, do sedation.  That's the only way I go for root canals or extractions.  LOL Makes it sound like I've had dozens .... LOL.

I must say - dentistry isn't an exact science.  I had one tooth that was problematic for a few years.  I had 2 root canals on it, an apicoectomy (root canal surgery through the gum), way too many x-rays and a major panoramic x-ray.  Nothing every showed up until the tooth was extracted.  When he extracted it, the entire middle was many fractures .... nothing ever showed up.

[bev1234]

Thanks for not of your answers. It makes me feel better that everyone on here has had swelling with theirs and mine isn't yet. So hopefully it is okay to wait for my appointment. Almost there. My mouth is hurting worse today and in different spots. So worried that infection is spreading.

[bev1234]

All of your answers** not was a typo

[bev1234]

Please reply- for everyone who has commented or kept up wih this post or if you read the situation and have any answers. My tooth actually feels infected now, the pain is getting worse (still is not unbearable- just a little worse) and it is very very sore to the touch(the gums and hole) and I am having some pain on another tooth. I am so scared. Do you guys think that since no tooth is left, only roots, and since there is a deep hole up in my gums that the infection could spread faster/worse? Please help

[bev1234]

Is there always severe pain with bad infections? What if it is already spreading and I don't know it or what if when I go to the dentist Thursday they tell me it is too late to fix the infection/save me? I know that sounds crazy but i'm seriously worried about it... I've heard people can have serious infection and not even know it until they're dead because of the fact the nerves in the tooth are gone and they can't feel how bad it is

[LindaRK]

Pain in another area can be referred pain.

Aren't you on any antibiotics?  I would call the dentist and tell them what you've written here - ask them why you're not on antibiotics if there is a known infection going on.

[bev1234]

I'm not on them because the last time I went to the dentist this tooth wasn't infected. I'm not even sure ht it is now, it is just hurting due to the decaying that is going on. I'm just trying to make sure that d the infection is bad enough that I will know about it. I don't want to have no warning before it kills me.

[bev1234]

I need opinions fast

[smsinbklyn]

If it's getting worse call your dentist and get an emergency appointment.  The last time I had a root canal they got me in on the same day I called because the pain was really awful.

If you want to sit and stress and wait until your scheduled appointment - why in the world would you do that to yourself?  See the doctor now and get it fixed!

[sassparella]

I'm with smsinbklyn if you can get an emergency appointment do, to put your mind at rest and to get rid of the pain.

[bev1234]

That's good advice and I would definitely so that if I still had lo to wait, but since my appointment is only 3 days away I think I would rather try to wait it out. The pain isn't unbearable right now, just annoying. The only thing I am really worried about is being infected and not really knowing.

[bev1234]

Does anyone think that I could have a life-threatening infection and not know that I did? That is my biggest concern right now. The pain is bearable, it even comes and goes, still no noticeable swelling or anything. But i'm worried that I have a severe infection and because the tooth is mostly gone that I don't know about it? Please please please give me some answers!!!

[sbl1234]

No one can give you an accurate answer. I don't mean to be mean, but you have been repeatedly told to try to go to the dentist earlier, and you won't. We are not dentists here. We can't see your teeth. It sounds like you are panicking.  You really should try to go to the dentist earlier. That is clearly the best option.