I have a tooth ache for the first time EVER. Went to the dentist, had

[radwriter0555]

some pix taken, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong... and it's in a tooth with a root canal. So the root canal doc will take a look on Thursday.

So I got me some antibiotics and some vicodin to tide me over until then... it's the darnedest thing and hurting more and more as the hours go by. It started 3 nights ago, only hurting at night, but enough to wake me up. Then the pain persisted this morning, prompting the walk-in to the dentist.

And if anyone in LA needs a GREAT dentist, lemme know. These folks saw me immediately, no waiting. Treated like a queen.

But it's starting to hurt more and more and more...

So OUCH. Oh lemme pop another vicodin!

[Straight Shooter]

1. Ruh-roh. Sounds like you might end up seeing an oral surgeon.

I've had so much work done on my teeth, I joke that I've got a new car in there because of how much I've spent.

Good luck. Hopefully it will be something easily fixed. In the meantime, that Vicodin is some nice stuff for a toothache. If you run out, get some Percogesic, that's a toothache-killer, too.

:hi:

[radwriter0555]

4. Geez, I think almost every molar is root canaled... I just can't imagine

why this tooth is acting up now.
I've had a lot of work done too over the years... no fun at all.

Thank goodness for the happy pills!

[Straight Shooter]

7. You too? It's amazing I still got all my teeth!

Thank goodness dentists don't scare me at all, because I've spent more time in a dentist chair than in any other professional office, seems like. Of course, after I hit my thirties, it all seemed to kind of calm down.

Best of luck to you :)

[LudwigVan]

2. I had a REAL bad toothache around 2002

and it was around 3 in the morning. I went to the ER, and all the doctor gave me was Darvocet. I was kinda wanting Vicodin, but because I'm taking this other medication, he didn't want to give me that.

It was completely useless to me. Ibuprofen actually worked better. If it wasn't for my disability insurance, I'd be much more pissed at having to make a useless ER visit.

I don't have dental coverage, or else I'd have this tooth removed (or fixed if possible).

[Mika]

3. The pain wouldn't be generated by the tooth, unless it was cracked

The pain, as described, would most likely be coming from an enlarging abscess around your tooth root. This would be visible on an xray. Strange. Glad you're getting it looked into further.

[radwriter0555]

6. Thanks, yeah, the xrays didn't show a thing... although the pain is indeed

at the base of the root, up near the sinus's. And I don't have a sinus infection...

Here's hoping the antibiotics kick in and catch it...

**sigh**

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. *hugs* Hope all turns out well!

[radwriter0555]

11. THANKS...

hugs are always a great thing to have.

((((hugs))))

[kittycat1164]

8. my sympathies

ear-aches and tooth-aches are the worst! Hope you feel better soon...or at least are numb enough to sleep OK. Take care!

[necso]

9. I had a root channel which missed something.

So I got the whole toothache thing two times for the same tooth. (There was a goodly amount of time between the incidents.)

No big deal -- just a do-over. (But it can be a tiny little infection and cause a great deal of pain. I know from experience that a regular dentist can miss this sort of thing on an X-ray.)

Of course, I paid for the whole thing twice too. And it can take a goodly amount of Vicodin® to kill the pain of a bad toothache. But be careful, V's (typically, anyway) have Acetomeniphem® in them also. The manufacturer says that this enhances the effects of the Hydrocodone®, but I don't know. And I find that Ibuprofen® works better for tooth problems. Of course, both these of these over-the-counter drugs are completely useless (or so it seems) if your tooth is really hurting.

That Orajel® stuff (or whatever generic) can help a little -- get the maximum strength cream and apply liberally.


...

And maybe I got carried away with the ®'s.

[radwriter0555]

10. But what lovely ®'s they ®!

This root canal was at least a couple years ago... I don't even remember when I had it.

**sigh** can't sleep either.

[necso]

12. I know the feeling...

all too well.

Since this is a dental problem, I recommend the orajel again. It provides a little local relief and can help get you over the humps.

I have had a lot of different kinds of pain and I rate a bad toothache right up there at the top. It is in a lousy place (particularly in back and on top), doesn't go away and little except drugs of some sort make any difference.

The antibiotics should make a difference when they kick in. It might be a while though.

My re-do was certainly more than a year later.

The whole idea of teeth having nerves (for pain) seems to me, on the surface at least, to be a bad idea. What? If you didn't have them, you would bust up all your teeth by chewing on rocks or something?

...

I take an awful lot of editing.

[Cadence]

13. Does the tooth have a crown

on it?

[radwriter0555]

14. Yes it does. Guess that'll be coming off!

**sigh**

[HuskiesHowls]

15. Not necessarily....

I've had a root canal done through a crown. Surprised the heck out of me that he did it!!

I find this thread VERY interesting, as I just went to the dentist Friday, for the same thing. AND, its hurting like all get out now, too!! The one thing I've found that does help is the Orajel®. They didn't give ME Vicodin, just told me to take aspirin or Tylenol® x(

Something else I noticed...when I woke up, my dog was sniffing at that side of my mouth, and wanting to lick it for me. I imagine he knew something wasn't right and was going to try to help it!!

[Cadence]

18. I had this exact same thing happen to me!

I had a root canal on a tooth with a crown on it and two years later I developed severe pain in that tooth. What happened was under the crown, the tooth cracked. It probably had a small crack when the crown went on, but something made it crack worse and caused pain. Like grinding my teeth at night or something.
The dentist explained it to me why you still feel pain even though the root is gone, I can't remember the explanation. But I had the crown replaced and I was fine again. It didn't even hurt to have the crown replaced. From what you're describing I would bet that's it!

[radwriter0555]

19. INTERESTING since I am a GRINDER... ( I think we all are...)

and I felt the pain first when -- grinding.

I would have thought the crack would show up on the xray though.

So if it's cracked, that means the tooth comes out, right?

Oh joy.

[nuxvomica]

16. I often have referred tooth pain from my sinuses

I've gone to the dentist more than once about it because it will feel just like abscess pain I've had in the past. She checks it out and there's nothing wrong. The pain goes away when my sinuses clear but it really does feel just like the dreaded abscess pain. Sometimes the referred pain feels more like the tooth is loose or that my gums are inflamed but I go to the dentist and everything checks out ok.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. obviously the root canal has failed

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