All I want is some antibiotics
 

So, I swapped out the brush head on my electric toothbrush the other day, and I'm thinking the stiff new bristles cut my gums, as the next day I had three tender areas along my gums.

The next day just one spot was bothering me, but more severely and with some swelling.

Today I woke with visible swelling along one side of my jaw, and my jaw and tongue on that side were a bit numb.

Went to the dentist for an emergency visit and to get a prescription for some antibiotics - they can't see me until tomorrow.

Went to a CVS to see if their 'minute clinic' could prescribe some antibiotics. Nope, they don't do anything related to dental which apparently includes prescribing antibiotics for a dental issue.

Went to an emergency clinic. My insurance is out of network so it would cost me around $250 just to get a prescription for antibiotics.

Guess I'm waiting until tomorrow.

You shouldn't take antibiotics just because of some swelling. At least without some proper doctor giving presription. And hopefully not some American doctor, as statistically they give prescriptions a tad too willy nilly.

You know that antibiotics are weapons of mass destruction, right? It takes about a year or even more to recover from taking those. In many cases not totally ever (applies mostly to first time).

Swish your mouth with some coconut oil for about 15-20 minutes, it'll heal right up in a day or two.

If we were talking about a swollen joint I would agree with you, but inflamed gums giving rise to facial swelling is almost certainly some sort of an infection, in which case a dentist cannot even treat the cause until after the infection has been addressed.

Of course, another scenario could be some sort of extremely aggressive oral cancer, in which case I would likely be dead within a matter of days, so taking antibiotics needlessly would be the least of my worries.

that is a myth. If it takes that long to 'recover' your immune system then you need to try eating a vegetable more than once a month...

If it were true we'd all be dead.

Did that the first and second day (5 minutes at a time, not 20), along with rinsing with h2o2 and antiseptic mouthwash.

Wasn't the cause that you bruised your gums?

Brush the gum very hard there and use tea-tree oil mouthwash, it'll be gone in no time. Using antibiotics for this would be like waging global nuclear war to kill a handful of terrorists in Libya

Sure as hell it isn't a myth. And the vegetables won't do shit in here as we are talking about the bacteria the antibiotics have killed. All you can do to recover is to eat some fibers to have better shit composition and to eat some "man-made" bacteria, but anyways those bacteria are not even the right specie, just some bandage.

It takes a year plus to recover from antibiotics, but for starters I didn't say that your immune system would be 0 % or something like that.

Now if you had simply not bothered brushing your teeth in the first place... (Like us Brits) You wouldn't be in this situation... :2 cents:





:winkwink:

Get Well Soon

I think I should clarify about the facial swelling. I don't mean that I look puffy or one side is a bit tender, I'm saying that my face is no longer the lean symmetrical perfection it usually is, with a clearly obvious bulging on one side along the jaw line. My face feels a bit warm, too.

In my opinion, swelling and a possible infection in such close proximity to your brain is nothing to take chances with.

Go to a store like Farm & Fleet and inject yourself in the ass with Procraine.

$10

It's better than nothing while you wait for proper antibiotics.

buy some Listerine , moron

you dont need antibiotics.

Yeah, very hard to get that good bacteria back once it's been wiped out, some believe the true purpose of the Appendix is to kick-start the bacteria again. I'd only take antibiotics if I was already in a total mess, otherwise I'll work with my own immune system

:1orglaugh

you're absolutely correct. if the swelling is significant enough to cause distortion to your facial features you don't want to fuck around; infections can spread if left untreated and surface treatments like coconut and tea tree oil likely won't work if the infection has moved away from the surface to your jaw line.

def visit your dentist tomorrow, if the pain is really bad tonight pick up some chloroseptic spray and sensodyne toothpaste. coat the area with the toothpaste and use the spray as needed, both are wicked for temporarily relieving dental pain

Our local grocery store gives antibiotics for free in their pharmacy. I call my doctor/dentist tell them what's up, they call in a script. In an hour I go to the grocery store pharmacy and pick them up. No fuss, no muss. Not sure why you had so many problems trying to get them. It's not like they have any street value. I hope you got it fixed.

I used to use echinachea when I was plagued with tooth infections. But it would only work if you caught the infection at the very start - first signs of infection. If the infection took hold, the echinachea wasn't very effective.

My last tooth infection was brutal. Kept me awake 72hrs. straight - ran a temp of 103f and started hallucinating. It took antibiotics to wipe it out - then I went and had 29 extractions done.

Problem solved.

dude you can see a dentist tomorrow! It's not like they said 2 weeks or anything. Just man up and live with the pain for one day.. Or get a bottle of Everclear. Swish 2 shots around in your mouth. Spit out half and swallow the other half. :1orglaugh

Lipton black tea bag between your affected gum and jaw for 20 - 30 minutes. You'll spit black tea but it will be very relieving. Rinse with warm salt water. You can repeat as often as needed, at least till you see the dentist.

Surprised nobody has mentioned this.

Do you otherwise have good gum health and teeth?

How about some good quality c-vitamin? more beneficial than throwing away $250 on antibiotics. I would seriously think twice going that route.

See what happens with 5 gram of GOOD quality c-vitamin. If you truly have an infection it would show itself in other parts of your body like fatigue etc.

Are you fatigue or any other symptoms?

There are special anti-microbe mouthwashes like "Miramistin" and "Hexoral" which are quite effective and absolutely harmless for your immune system. As about antibiotics, I was always wondered why they are not available in the States and most of EU countries w/o a recipe... Why pay $200 for a useless visit to a doctor if you already know which exactly drugs you need to cure a sore throat or gonorrhea? In the Internet era...

no disrespect intended but not true. I think it's safe to say that if his facial dimensions are distorted and his skin feels warm it's a serious infection. besides, acute pain can cause alertness and full-body symptoms don't occur until an infection has spread beyond the initial point of infection so not feeling 'sick' is not a helpful indicator

Seriously though, props to the anti-drug peeps because people do misuse antibiotics, often. In a case of chipmunk-face antibiotics are needed though, home remedies are great but I gotta point out that before antibiotics people died of tooth infections. Do not fuck around when bacteria/infection is coursing through your blood stream.

Brutal is the word, I've been there. Tooth pain really is the worst of the worst, I've broken a couple of ribs playing football and the pain was minor in comparison. Due to past massive nutritional deficiencies/osteopenia and what a couple of dentists have described as a 'acidic mouth' (a family trait) I was really prone to cavities and infections even though I've always brushed and flossed like a mofo.

I root canaled every single one and capped em all a few years ago, I did not want a life with that sporadic but overwhelming pain to be part of my future. The last episode was so bad (curled up on the floor on a sunday night counting down the hours til the dentist office opened so I could get the antibiotics to make me sane again, that's when my partner found the throat spray/toothpaste combo I recommended above) I don't want to ever go through that again. Black tea is great, for minor tooth pain. When the whole area is infected/inflamed it's not much use.

Get some antibiotics OP, the use of antibiotics when warranted is a smart choice. It is crazy that drugs with no street value need a scrip though. Like a junkie is going to shoot Amoxicillin, I figure this is a medical industry lobbied policy to protect their income.

not sure if it has been mentioned, but what about swishing your mouth with saline solution for the time being? should help for infection

Do some heroin. I hear its an effective pain killer...

It's absolutely amazing. Two of GFY's biggest asshats agreeing with each other :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Get well soon, OP

Just because we haven't heard your opinion yet. I mean the "two" part.

I was wondering why this hadn't been brought up yet.

Yay! Got my drugs. :banana

Dentist thinks the new brush head was just coincidental and that the root (no pun intended) problem is an abscess in a tooth that already had a root canal and a crown - and referred me to an endodontist. Apparently when he pushed down on my gums he saw pus come out, so definitely an infection, and x-rays indicate some break down in the socket/bone beneath.

btw, I was already rinsing with salt water.

Because you fuckers cant read.

True dat

Likewise, I always went to the dentist over the years, regular check-ups, cleaning, etc. But I inherited my father's soft-teeth gene (he had all his extracted in his early 20s). I had endless cavities (I recall having 13 in a single visit)...and my dental bills were enormous. The constant infections practically had me searching drawers for gun ammo.

Strange as it sounds - having them all extracted was the best option. That was a decade ago, and I've never regretted it.

petstore... antibiotics for fish

Do you have a long neck too?

Yep, Canuck breweries phased out the stubby beer bottles in '82.

Hydrogen Peroxide... Doesn't hurt to use it even when no pain... Just don't swallow. :thumbsup