Spin-off from headaches - toothache

[CaKe]

OK, having had toothache since Boxing Day, I need help.

Firstly, I am petrified of dentists.
I live in an area where it's impossible to register with a dentist, so I can't find a nice one and keep going there.
Emergency clinics are only available at restricted times, and, as before, I'm petrified of dentists.

Having said this, the pain was so bad on Thursday night that I had to make an emergency appointment and went on Friday.

Mr Dentist said I needed root canal treatment, I freaked and had a panic attack and he referred me to the hospital/dental clinic for sedation.

This is all very well - but I still have toothache. I've tried paracetemol, Anadin Extra, Ibuprofen, something else (can't remember what it's called, it's paracetemol and co-codamol though). I've tried the alcohol on the gums. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of - and it's not working. NHS Direct are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and have told me to "sleep as much as possible and wait until Monday, find out when my referral will be, and try and push it forward"

Does anyone else have any tips for toothache relief? I'm such a wimp, but I'm really struggling

[Theodoric]

Oil of cloves (rubbed on the gums, not drunk!) is the traditional remedy for toothache. You should be able to buy it at any chemists.

EDIT Anyone who has seen the film Marathon Man will remember oil of cloves being used as a treatment.

[Shaun]

Oil of Cloves is o.k. but you want to ring your Doctor and get him out, he/she will give you a prescription for something stronger, you can nip down to ASDA or wherever and get it, but ring first thing tomorrow 'cos they take an age to come out

[Marge]

Originally Posted by dellwear

Oil of Cloves is o.k. but you want to ring your Doctor and get him out, he/she will give you a prescription for something stronger, you can nip down to ASDA or wherever and get it, but ring first thing tomorrow 'cos they take an age to come out

Without wishing to sound unsympathetic I would be very surprised if the GP would do an out of hours visit for toothache, more likely they would refer to an emergency dentist. Is there a Dental hospital nearby as you usually can self refer ??

[Ramrod]

My Tai Chi instructor has a problem with dentists....he decks them
He now has to be anesthetized before any dental work....

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by CaKe

OK, having had toothache since Boxing Day, I need help.

Firstly, I am petrified of dentists.
I live in an area where it's impossible to register with a dentist, so I can't find a nice one and keep going there.
Emergency clinics are only available at restricted times, and, as before, I'm petrified of dentists.

Having said this, the pain was so bad on Thursday night that I had to make an emergency appointment and went on Friday.

Mr Dentist said I needed root canal treatment, I freaked and had a panic attack and he referred me to the hospital/dental clinic for sedation.

This is all very well - but I still have toothache. I've tried paracetemol, Anadin Extra, Ibuprofen, something else (can't remember what it's called, it's paracetemol and co-codamol though). I've tried the alcohol on the gums. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of - and it's not working. NHS Direct are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and have told me to "sleep as much as possible and wait until Monday, find out when my referral will be, and try and push it forward"

Does anyone else have any tips for toothache relief? I'm such a wimp, but I'm really struggling

Hi, I sympathise with you there, I too hate dentists and have suffered some horrific toothaches as a result, so .. I'm not going to just tell you to go to see one. With regards to pain relief I found that 2 x Co-codamol (available over the counter) every 4 hours with 1 x 400mg Ibuprofen ever 4 hours but on the second hour of the co-codamol, so you're taking something every 2 hours, avoid cold liquids as they may help for about 10 seconds but as soon as your mouth warms up it'll hurt twice as much. Also stick something warm on the side of your face, like a hot water bottle. Hope it goes away soon, it's one of the most miserable experiences I know.

edit: If you are in a lot of pain then you can visit A&E at your local hospital, they'll sort you out with something a bit more hefty to tide you over.

[Kneebs]

Originally Posted by CaKe

OK, having had toothache since Boxing Day, I need help.

Firstly, I am petrified of dentists.
I live in an area where it's impossible to register with a dentist, so I can't find a nice one and keep going there.
Emergency clinics are only available at restricted times, and, as before, I'm petrified of dentists.

Having said this, the pain was so bad on Thursday night that I had to make an emergency appointment and went on Friday.

Mr Dentist said I needed root canal treatment, I freaked and had a panic attack and he referred me to the hospital/dental clinic for sedation.

This is all very well - but I still have toothache. I've tried paracetemol, Anadin Extra, Ibuprofen, something else (can't remember what it's called, it's paracetemol and co-codamol though). I've tried the alcohol on the gums. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of - and it's not working. NHS Direct are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and have told me to "sleep as much as possible and wait until Monday, find out when my referral will be, and try and push it forward"

Does anyone else have any tips for toothache relief? I'm such a wimp, but I'm really struggling

Well, you've got my sympathy - the worst pain i've ever experienced came from toothache, although in my case it was because I had an abcess. The pain started around tea-time one friday, and just got worse and worse. The only relief I got was from drinking cold water, the only problem was, the relief only lasted seconds, before having to have another drink.

That night, I had no sleep whatsoever, but I managed to get an emergency appointment the next day. I was told I would need root canal work also, but he gave me the option of having the thing took out. Needless to say, 20 minutes later, the tooth was out !!

Another 20 minutes later, I was in bed !!

And if none of the suggestions work, get the spirits out !!

I think you need to see someone as soon as possible.Why the heck should you bluddy wait?Especially as you will probably have to pay for the treatment.

[CaKe]

Well, NHS direct called back after 2 hours, told me that I'd already overdosed on paracetemol (2 every 4 hours *sigh*) so best thing to do is try and sleep.

I've tried the doctor, I had an appointment with him on Monday, he laughed me out the office telling me i "have an irrational fear of dentists, don't be stupid, just go, they're all nice, you're just being silly" and to add to that, they won't prescribe anything for toothache, they're not qualified

Emergency dentists are really not an option, I was in such a state on Friday that the dentist said he'd have had trouble treating me - I can't "pull myself together" enough to see them - besides, they're open 9-11:30 tomorrow morning and I can't get there :/

I feel like such a bloody wimp, I think I'm just fed up and exhausted of dealing with it after 2 weeks :/

Oh, as for A&E? I called them (same place as the emergency dentist & I can't get there easily). They won't do anything for dental pain either apparently, apart from recommend the emergency dentist *sigh*

Thanks for the help though - will definitely find a chemist or something to try co-codamol (the tablets I was on about in the first post aren't co-codamol at all, I lied )

[Flubflow]

Yep, oil of cloves is the traditional toothache pain remedy. Try to keep it in the required spot and away from the gums and rest of the mouth as best you can (`cos it tastes awful, makes you want to spit and can irritate soft tissues). At first you might sometimes think it is making it worse but give it a chance.

You may also like to try Bonjela (as used on teething babies gums). It can have an anesthetic effect if you use enough of it but it is really intended for gums rather than stuffing in a tooth cavity.

Do NOT put alcohol on your gums (medical or booze). It will not do any good for toothache and will only make the pain worse. Alcohol only has a slight anesthetic value when used externally on the skin because of the evapouration cooling and hence numbing effect but in the mouth this has no real or lasting effect.
If it is that you want to clean your mouth/gums/teeth with the minimum of disruption then use an antiseptic mouthwash or simply salt water (yuk) followed by fresh water.

Cool a hankerchief in the fridge and place that on the part of your face where the toothache is. Some people think warming the area helps but, although it may initially feel comforting, in many cases heat only makes pain and swelling worse.

If when you get a lull in the pain and you want to drink/eat then have some warm soup. Try to avoid things that are too cold or too hot since any sharp temperature change will often set your toothache off again.

When you go to bed, get a load of pillows and try to sleep with you head well above the rest of your body. Laying with your head right down makes the pain worse as more blood goes to the area.

Root canal treatment is not as bad as you think. I don't like dentists either (nothing personal you dentists out there ) but I had a root canal and it went really very well. The first part is the worst but the quickest and even that was OK in my case. The rest of the work is done on a tooth that effectively has no nerves in it anymore.

A good Dentist should be considerate to a persons phobia and they should have a well defined policy to help make you feel at ease. If you find that you are being made to feel a nuisance then report him/her to the BDA. We could do without sadistic, lazy, get-rich-quick Dentists.
Dentists didn't used to have to worry about nervous patients because they could just knock them out with gas or injection them but these days due to the expense of having a qualified anesthetist and equipment many now can only refer you to hospital which can be a bit impersonal. Sometimes they can give you a powerful tranquiliser at the hospital which are so good that it will make you feel like you couldn't care less whether or not they root canaled your entire head (but can make you start to sing at the top of your voice uncontrollably and grab nurses bottoms apparently).

Even just the anesthetic needle in the gum is often the worst fear for some people. If so then ask the dentist to rub some anesthetic gel on your gum and wait a few minutes before he sticks the needle in. The proper gel they use is good stuff and you won't feel the needle (they do this for kids but not usually for adults unless you insist or unless he actually cares about your phobia).

Hope this helps.

[Flubflow]

Originally Posted by Kneebs

Well, you've got my sympathy - the worst pain i've ever experienced came from toothache, although in my case it was because I had an abcess. The pain started around tea-time one friday, and just got worse and worse. The only relief I got was from drinking cold water, the only problem was, the relief only lasted seconds, before having to have another drink.

That night, I had no sleep whatsoever, but I managed to get an emergency appointment the next day. I was told I would need root canal work also, but he gave me the option of having the thing took out. Needless to say, 20 minutes later, the tooth was out !!

Another 20 minutes later, I was in bed !!

And if none of the suggestions work, get the spirits out !!

That's a shame. There is absolutely no reason why a credible dentist should give you the option of taking out a tooth which has a perfectly healthy root. It is their job to save teeth not destroy them.

I have had major toothache and it has to be the worse experienced pain anyone has to go through, someone told me to use 'Bonjela' even though its really for gums, it worked a treat applied it to the teeth area where the pain was coming from.

There are times when I would like to be a God.Then I would ensure that every doctor,dentist,nurse or any other practioner of medicine was an empathic that suffered the same pain each and every one of their patients were suffering.That way they wouldn't ever laugh or make mock of anyone in pain.

Incog.

Originally Posted by Incognitas

There are times when I would like to be a God.Then I would ensure that every doctor,dentist,nurse or any other practioner of medicine was an empathic that suffered the same pain each and every one of their patients were suffering.That way they wouldn't ever laugh or make mock of anyone in pain.

Incog.

As long as you don't mean this doc Incog.

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

There are times when I would like to be a God.Then I would ensure that every doctor,dentist,nurse or any other practioner of medicine was an empathic that suffered the same pain each and every one of their patients were suffering.That way they wouldn't ever laugh or make mock of anyone in pain.

Incog.

Yup, the stories I have been told!