Help! What do YOU do when you get a bad toothache on a Saturday?

[Radio_Lady]

ANY SERIOUS HOME REMEDIES YOU CAN SUGGEST would be appreciated. One of my 70-year-old husband's upper wisdom teeth (crowned, but no root canal therapy)has been acting up since last night.

I made him an ice pack, and he's taken a strong painkiller. I don't know if I have many more here at home.

Our local dentist's telephone answering machine refers us to the Washington County (Portland, OR) Dental Society's dentist on call. I put a message on her pager at 7 AM. No call yet (four hours later.)

I looked up our dentist's home telephone number and left a message there. We've been going to him for three years and that's what we used to do with our previous dentist in Boston, whom we knew for 27 years.

I called an endodontist's office in downtown Portland who did some work for him a couple of years ago, but they don't open until TUESDAY! They said they answer their messages, but so far, no soap.

My husband said if he holds the mirror, could I just use the needle-nosed pliers and help him out? (Just kiddin', but makes you remember the days when teeth had to be extracted in this fashion.)

Seriously, what ever happened to doctors covering for each other on weekends in the dental field? I remember having a root canal started on July 4th! Those days are gone forever!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Warm salt water

Have him swish this around in his mouth. I have several crowns and sometimes the teeth hurt (only one has had a root canal, btw). I find that doing this helps a lot. Another thing is to add a drop or two of colloidal silver to the water. You can get it at any health food store. I did this and the pain in my tooth went away.

[benburch]

2. Call your doctor... Or go to the ER...

They will get you some real painkillers.

[Radio_Lady]

13. Benburch, luckily we still have the real painkillers from a hernia

operation a few months ago. We're OK for the night, but it would be nice to hear from some professional we've ALREADY paid for care!

Damn, the good old days are over. My dentist from Boston lived in the same town and we could even go over to his house. I remember an endodontist doing some treatment on my on the 4th of July, but that was in the 1980s.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer.

[RevCheesehead]

3. My dentist told me ONLY IBUPROFEN.

Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory as well as a pain killer. Tylenol can mask the pain, but the tooth's nerve may be inflamed.

I was skeptical, but he was right. (I had a cracked tooth, and had to wait for a root-canal. Ohhhhh, God, that hurt!)

[Mutley]

4. I just took extra strength Tylenol

a few weeks ago when I had a toothache. It actually did start to work after a few doses. And swish around cool water, that works very temporarily, but better to have a few seconds break from the pain. And someone told me to gargle warm salt water, which didn't do much for me, but it might work for you.

[Radio_Lady]

14. Mutley, I just heard from one of the "emergency" doctors at 7:30 PM PT.

She said we are doing what we can do until we hear from the endodontist. She also advised adding in penicillin (Amoxicillin) to the mix and also Motrin if he can tolerate it for inflammation. Also, if my husband's face begins to swell or his eye is affected, he can go to the Emergency Room for intravenous antibiotic treatment, since the tooth is already root-canal treated and crowned.

Yeah, these teeth are fabulous. When you get older, you don't care too much about how they look, just that they don't HURT.

Isn't it the rodent family (rats, mice, etc.) that have teeth that continue to grow for their lifetimes? If we had that, I could have a good chew toy! We just have to deal with two sets of teeth and once they're gone -- then it's denture and mush time!

Thanks for responding.

[LibertyorDeath]

5. Yes go with ayeshahaqqiqa advice warm salt water or

put salt directly on the affected area.

[Radio_Lady]

16. Oh, Liberty, I love that clown image! It's perfect.

I think we've got things under control tonight with some suggestions and drugs until we get through the weekend.

Appreciate your suggestions.

In peace,

Radio Lady

[LibertyorDeath]

24. Thanks for the kind response Yes it is a great pic kinda says it all

Who are the beautiful girls in your pic?

[purr]

6. Cloves

In addition to ibuprofen, put some cloves on the painful tooth. It always worked for me.

[Radio_Lady]

15. Purr, I remember oil of cloves from childhood. I like cloves on ham...

OT: What kind of a cat is that? Hairless?? Wow! The eyes are fantastic!

I think we have everything under control for right now. My husband is sleeping and we just have to get through until Monday (or Tuesday -- ). Damn...

Thanks, purr

[Trajan]

7. We had a 'Saturday' Dentist ....

They do exist .... The problem is finding one ...

Usually, they can be found in the Yellow Pages ads ..

I used to drink lots of vodka to get me through such pain ... it does work ..... chuckles ....

[Radio_Lady]

12. The "Emergency" dentists are out of the question. It's a long story, but

I've been to a few emergency dentists in my time and they didn't work out, to say the least.

Thanks again, Trajan. We've got the meds for tonight and hopefully we'll get through tomorrow. He gets pretty silly (and more than a little sexy) when he's on meds -- it's kinda fun (well, not too fun today).

[dajoki]

8. water held on the tooth

usually works, but if not try whisky.

[Radio_Lady]

11. Well, tonight, we went with a little wine -- we don't drink much and

we have no whiskey.

Thanks for your help today, dajoki.

[SOteric]

9. Your local pharmacy will have some topical treatments

in the dental aisle, next to the toothpaste and all the exotic implements. Oil of Clove is a popular one and quite safe, and there are many more modern, manufactured topical pain relievers for teeth, gums and mouth as well.

An anti-inflammatory like Ibuprophen coupled with Acetaminophen, only in recommended doses can be quite effective at relieving pain. My physician advised me to take them in tandem as they affect differently and do not interact.

As soon as you can get ahold of a professional, please do so. We're all a bunch of sympathetic people, but we're not qualified to give more than opinions.

[Radio_Lady]

10. Thanks, SOteric. No one from the dental office has bothered to call us --

all day today.

This is an endodontically treated tooth that was crowned. I have a dental photo of the FINAL work on 6-9-2000 but cannot get through to anyone today. You'd think they would have some emergency coverage for a Saturday. They said they don't open the office until TUESDAY. I left them a roaring second message this evening.

Unfortunately, Ibuprophen causes stomach trouble for both my husband and myself. I've got something stronger and I've given it to him once every four hours all day long. His sister who works in a dental office in Boston recommended a run of penicillin and that can't hurt.

Thanks for your help.

[EstimatedProphet]

17. Orajel

Available over the counter

[Radio_Lady]

19. Thanks, Estimated. That has benzocaine in it, and my husband hates any

topical anesthesia, particularly in his mouth.

We're OK for this evening. He's comfortable.

Off topic: By the way, WHAT IS THAT THING on top of the White House in your picture? I've been meaning to ask you.

[EstimatedProphet]

21. It's the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings

Symbolic of the Evil which has taken over the government

[Radio_Lady]

25. OK, the Eye of Sauron. I had no idea, but then again I don't know

very much about the Lord of the Rings.

Thanks for the clarification.

[Maddy McCall]

18. Call the dentist again.

Someone should help him by at least prescribing something.

[Heidi]

20. If he has an abscess, this could be serious . . .

If you can afford it (and even if you can't), get him to the ER. The pain isn't the worst part; the possibility of an abscess is the worst part, and that can go from bad to worse overnight. It's serious business.

[Radio_Lady]

23. The doctor said to go only if his face swelled up and the meds

didn't control the pain. That might mean an abcess, and the ER might put him on intravenous medications for pain and infection.

Since my original post this morning, I've looked through our records and found that this wisdom tooth #1 had root canal therapy in 2000, and it did act up once before but settled down a couple of years ago.

My husband started on amoxicillin (penicillin) as of 5 PM tonight. Right now, he's sitting next to me working on his own computer. If the pain gets bad at any time overnight, I will take him to the hospital.

I appreciate your concern, Heidi -- and all of the rest of you who responded during this entire day. Thanks for being there.

[Skittles]

22. definitely let your dentist know that his on-call SUCKS

he will want to know

if you have to, go to the emergency room, they'll probably have an oncall dentist they can refer you to

[Radio_Lady]

26. We made it through the weekend, and the pain seems to have

subsided. He took only the antibiotic all day today. Perhaps it was a simple problem that penicillin has controlled. The whole thing just flaired up suddenly and then went away! He will certainly hear from our regular dentist who may want to examine him and take an x-ray just to confirm that there's nothing going on there that we don't know about.

Yes, we'll certainly tell ALL of the dentists involved that their on-call needs improvement. The "TLC" factor seems to be missing in today's medical environment, doesn't it?

In peace, Radio Lady

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Mods, OK to lock or archive this topic if you prefer, now that we're out of the woods. Thanks.

[TrogL]

27. Suck on aspirin, aspergum or use topical whatever-caine

Sorry, not cocaine (at least try a few other things first.

[Radio_Lady]

29. Please see my post #26. Thanks for your information.

I used to love Aspergum -- in the orange box. I just used to chew it because of the taste! I didn't know they still even make it.

[bridgit]

28. liquid, maximum strength oragel...

applied with q-tip, my tooth was driving me shit-bonkers till hubby picked some up for me :thumbsup: it was the only thing that knocked it back, i was on that and an 'advil drip' until i had it taken out the other day

[Radio_Lady]

30. Please see my post #26. Thanks for your information.

We're trying to save all of our teeth with root canal therapy, crowns and bridgework. It's pretty expensive, but that's our choice. So far, my husband is beating me. He's 71 years old on June 23rd and he has all of his original teeth except for one, and that includes his wisdom teeth! No wonder he's so wise.

Appreciate your reply tonight. Have a great week, Bridgit!

[bridgit]

31. "For there was never yet philosopher...

That could endure the toothache patiently.
Shakespeare ~ Much Ado About Nothing

you bet'cha, Radio_Lady & you folks have a nice one as well...

ps, though we both know; toothaches aren't 'much ado about nothing' i should add in closing ~

[LiberallyInclined]

32. anibiotic-

i'm not one of those people who go running to the anti-biotics for everything- but for a toothache, nothing beats penecillin.