Pregnant with severe wisdom tooth pain, please help!!

LaLucy

I'm nearly 10 weeks pregnant and for the past 5 days my wisdom tooth has got worse. The right side of my face is swollen, gum all severely swollen and numb, jaw is aching like hell and can barely open my mouth. It got to the height of pain friday night and I was looking for emergency dentist but now I'm reading that I can't do anything while pregnant. My throat is swollen and I'm having migraines and can't sleep with this pain. I haven't taken any paracetomol all I've done is hot water and salt rinses and using garlic. What can a dentist do to help? This is unbearable

Big_G

Just because you are pregnant, does not mean that you cannot have treatment. We like to avoid doing major procedures during pregnancy, but we do some procedures to fix emergencies, like what you are describing. Preferably during the second trimester.

I suggest go to the dentist asap.

metrovelvet

I had three wisdom teeth extractions during my pregnancy. The hormones trigger something with the teeth and gums. Get to a dentist ASAP. I developed a fever and infection with one of them and it had to go.

metrovelvet

The only difference when your pregnant is they dont use the x ray machine on you. Or use general anesthetic.

ballsymchugh

was at a radiography course last year where sensors were placed on a person's tummy to pick up the readings from small dental xrays, and the amount picked up was negligable. but it's only recent, so it'll take time to filter through to all dentists.
garlic though?!!
get in early as you can tomorrow morning, even just for a script.

biddy3

Sounds like you have an infection, the only cure is antibiotics. Don't know if you can take them while pregnant. Keep washing your mounth out with warm salt water. You should call your dentist & gp.

Big_G

The only cure is definitely not antibiotics. In dental infection, you must remove the source of the infection, usually a dead infected tooth pulp, in order to cure it. Antibiotics will only reduce symptoms.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Big_G wrote: »

The only cure is definitely not antibiotics. In dental infection, you must remove the source of the infection, usually a dead infected tooth pulp, in order to cure it. Antibiotics will only reduce symptoms.

+1

DaveTwenty7

Big_G wrote: »

The only cure is definitely not antibiotics. In dental infection, you must remove the source of the infection, usually a dead infected tooth pulp, in order to cure it. Antibiotics will only reduce symptoms.

Agreed

georgieporgy

Big_G wrote: »

The only cure is definitely not antibiotics. In dental infection, you must remove the source of the infection, usually a dead infected tooth pulp, in order to cure it. Antibiotics will only reduce symptoms.

Big_G I think in this case she has pericorinitis?

ballsymchugh

georgieporgy wrote: »

Big_G I think in this case she has pericorinitis?

beat me to it. a bad dose of it too. anyway, as res said on another thread, antibiotics are indicated in acute pain.

Big_G

At the risk of getting into a semantic argument, I was only replying to the above post that said that the only cure for infection is antibiotics. And I was saying not in dentistry.

With regard to this specific case, we don't know that it is pericoronitis. It could be acute periradicular periodontitis due to irreversible pulpitis or a necrotic pulp in the wisdom tooth or an adjacent tooth. The fact that she describes trismus indicates pericoronitis as the likely culprit.

My statement about resolving the source of infection still stands, even in the case of pericoronitis, the cause of which is usually impacted food or calculus as a nidus for plaque bacteria. So ab will resolve symptoms, but if the cause is not resolved, the patient will return with pericoronitis at some point.

Personally I avoid prescribing ab for cases of pericoronitis not displaying lymphadenopathy or acute facial swelling. In those cases, wisdom tooth removal is almost always indicated anyway. In milder cases, US cleaning, disimpaction, and irrigation with CHX will produce as good a result as a low dose ab, possibly better. I think there are studies to support this, but I'm not an OS.:D

What about you Georgy? What is your experience with this? I know some patients will almost insist on Ab. That complicates things.

DaveTwenty7

Would it still not be better to remove the source of infection (ie the wisdom tooth) than attempt to treat with ABs and still possibly have to extract or re-treat with ABs again next month?

ballsymchugh

big g, going by what you are saying, then if you were my dentist about 12 years ago, i would have had my wisdom teeth taken out. i had some doses of pericoronitis when they were erupting and, fair enough, i knew how to get them better but there was one case i needed the antibiotics as i could hardly open my mouth, as the OP has said. that episode was the last time it happened, and i refused the extractions from the demonstrator in UCC, and now my wisdom teeth are fine.
fair enough, she's in a lot of pain, but if the eruption path is straight and there's adequate room for eventual eruption, then extraction is a bit extreme. antibiotics will make it easier for her to open wide enough to get access to it to clean it and clear out any food or debris that's causing the irritation.

georgieporgy

It goes without saying that I too would agree that the cause of the problem has to be dealt with. In this case if it is pericorinitis around a lower wisdom tooth, then the tooth has to go but first we have to deal with the acute complaint and usually I would prescribe antibiotics and analgesics to clean up the area and then extract the tooth in a few days.
It is possible her upper wisdom tooth is present and may be exacerbating the situation. If so I would extract that ASAP if she is able to open her mouth.
Needless to say we are talking very generally here. we haven't seen her.

PS when we say extract the wisdom tooth we are assuming the it needs to be extracted. It could be as ballysymchugh says also