Toothache not gone away after treatment

Repolho

About 3 weeks ago my wife developed a toothache. Her dentist manages to fit her in that day she required a small filling which he carried out. He gave her a script for painkillers and anti-biotic and scheduled an appoinment for a full check up.

She has since been back for the checkup and scale & polish, with no further treatment required. However, although not as bad as before she still has some pain in the tooth.

I'm just wondering, as the dentist prescribed an antibiotic, there must have been an infection (otherwise why prescribe it?). So should he not have taken an x-ray to diagnose?

ballsymchugh

depends on the nature of the infection. if it originated inside the tooth, then more work would be needed (root canal or extraction) or in the gum, where an infection can clear up with meticulous hygiene, maybe aided with antibiotics.
if the dentist is sure about the cause of the infection, then an x-ray may not be (in their opinion) justified. it's only an aid to diagnosis. there are a few other ways to determine if there's an infection.

anyway, in your wife's case, if the original pain was 10/10, how does she rate it now?
if it was a gum infection, then it may take time to resolve as hygiene improves.

Repolho

ballsymchugh wrote: »

anyway, in your wife's case, if the original pain was 10/10, how does she rate it now?

Not sure, she said its definitely not as bad. She was taking painkillers before the initial visit to the dentist but hasn't needed them since but still feels something there.

The pain is in her jaw more so than in the tooth (has been since first experienced) but as it in the same area as the tooth which was filled I suppose just assumed it was the tooth! However, maybe its not related to her teeth at all?

ballsymchugh

Repolho wrote: »

Not sure, she said its definitely not as bad. She was taking painkillers before the initial visit to the dentist but hasn't needed them since but still feels something there.

The pain is in her jaw more so than in the tooth (has been since first experienced) but as it in the same area as the tooth which was filled I suppose just assumed it was the tooth! However, maybe its not related to her teeth at all?

it's pretty likely to be related, all in all, she had pain in a certain area, got a filling, and then the pain dissipates. could've been a food trap associated with the cavity, if food got jammed in between the teeth then it can aggravate the gum and will still be sore for a few days after it's cleaned out and the tooth repaired.
no harm in returning to be safe.

georgieporgy

Was it an upper back tooth? has she had a recent cold/stuffy nose? It may be maxilliary sinusitis which can be quite painful and mimics toothache. The dentist would have looked and may have found a small cavity nearby and filled it as it was there. Small cavities generally don't cause pain.

the sinusitis would clear up in a couple weeks.

Repolho

Thanks for the help guys. She has booked another appointment. Better to get it checked out than to leave it to chance (I know cos I needed 2 root canals recently after avoiding going to the dentist for several years!)