Pain In Tooth And All Right Side Of Face. Neck Is Aching. Had Abscesses And Gum Is Not Tender. Suggest The Treatment?

Posted on Sat, 7 Sep 2013

Question: I am in absolute agony with I think what is general toothache. I have pain in my tooth and all right side of face and down neck is aching. Is this normal toothache?

I have not been to a dentist for a long time as I am scared of the dentist,no reason to be I just am. I have had absesses in the past but not in this place and gum is not tender.

I can only take Paracetamol can you advise anything else please as I am in absolute agony

Answered by Dr. Anshumala Singh (48 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Hydrocodone 500 mg every six hourly

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome.

As per your history ,it appears that you have a decayed tooth which involves the soft tissues(nerves) of tooth called pulp.

when the infection reaches pulp, it causes severe tooth ache which also radiates to adjacent body parts like head,neck and jaw.

Does the tooth pains while clenching,or biting on it?

Can you please give a brief history of pain, like its duration,and aggravating factors that causes pain?Does the pain increases with cold/hot food stuff?

Any associated swelling?Since when do you have tooth ache presently?

Pain killers would give you temporary relief no doubt,but in my view please do not be worried and see your dentist once.

So that ,you can understand the cause of pain and then based upon that later on,you can decide whether you want to go for treatment or not.

X rays are very helpful to confirm the decay and shows its extent.
No treatment, can be offered without patient consent.Therefore please see your dentist for clinical evaluation without hesitation.

Presently i can advise you pain killers like Hydrocodone 500 mg every six hourly for three days.

Also other analgesics that you can take is percocet,as an alternative to previous one.

Please let me know for further query.

Thanks.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Anshumala Singh (14 hours later)

Hi my toothache is there constantly seems to be aggrevated more by sweet things. There is no redness or swelling just a really bad ache. It doesnt hurt to bite on it. I have had the pain for 48 hours now the only thing that is helping is an ice pack on the side of my face, wrapped in a towel x

Answered by Dr. Anshumala Singh (49 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Antibiotics and analgesics,advised root canal

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for reply.

As you have mentioned in your history you have continuous pain which aggravates on taking sweets and relieves on cold application.

This shows you have irreversible pulpitis.This requires root canal treatment as a final treatment.In simpler words, there is pus built up in the tooth which requires drainage through root canal.

In this case you can take the pain killers as i suggested but please see your dentist for further x rays and treatment planning.Antibiotics and analgesics should be started upon consultation.

Hope it helps.Let me know for further query.

Thanks.
Take care.

Note: Find out which dental treatment will work best for your teeth. Ask here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad