Any tips for relieving tooth pain?

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In summary, my wife has 5 wisdom teeth that need to be removed (they haven't yet because we just had a baby girl 3 weeks ago, and we haven't had time). Well, all 5 are in really bad shape, and one of them has pretty much shattered and fallen out of her mouth, leaving just the root. Any time she tries to chew on that side of her mouth, one of the wisdom teeth gets irritated and she ends up barely being able to open her mouth, and that side of her face swells up. She has tried oxycodone 5-325mg (which is from having the baby since she had a c-section), ambesol,
  • #1
Kronos5253
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My wife has 5 wisdom teeth that need to be removed (they haven't yet because we just had a baby girl 3 weeks ago, and we haven't had time). Well, all 5 are in really bad shape, and one of them has pretty much shattered and fallen out of her mouth, leaving just the root. Any time she tries to chew on that side of her mouth, one of the wisdom teeth gets irritated and she ends up barely being able to open her mouth, and that side of her face swells up. She has tried oxycodone 5-325mg (which is from having the baby since she had a c-section), ambesol, a jaw pain relief cream that's for lockjaw, icing it.. Nothing has worked. All of those either have extremely little effect, or no effect at all.

We are both quite aware that she needs to go to the dentist and get surgery to have them removed, but aside from that, anyone have any remedies for something like this? I've heard tea bags work, but she starts to get sick to her stomach from that after about 10-15mins. I've also heard tylenol and advil, but if the oxycodone didn't work, would it make any difference to use either one of those? Any help would be much appreciated, I hate seeing her in pain like this.
 
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  • #2
Sorry to hear that, but really the best thing to do is see a doc /dentist. Maybe one is on duty during the weekend. Only a qualified doctor should judge what to do, if pain relievers don't help.
 
  • #3
See http://www.ehow.com/way_5294986_tooth-pain-remedy.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/199031/looking_for_instant_tooth_pain_relief.html [Broken]
http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Toothache.html
http://worldental.org/oral-hygiene/10-home-remedies-for-dental-pain/
http://www.myhomeremedies.com/topic.cgi?topicid=205

Wisdom tooth: http://www.myhomeremedies.com/topic.cgi?topicid=233

I'd start with warm saline water; then apply iodine.
 
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  • #4
I found that Advil worked more quickly than codeine for a toothache (which ended in a root canal). The quantities I had to take is not good for an extended time.

Get to a dental surgeon ASAP. This will affect the extremely important first weeks of your baby's life. Your wife will be "out of it" for a day, but really, this must be taken care of now.

Call. Log off and call.

Now.
 
  • #5
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  • #6
5 wisdom teeth? I thought we only had 4. I think one of those is a molar.
I had all of my wisdom teeth removed at once, along with 3 other teeth, so 7 teeth total from overcrowding before I got my braces. The next 5 or so days was some of the worst days I've ever had. I was miserable.
 
  • #7
Tooth pain is something that is very hard to get rid of. The only thing that I found that helps at all is migraine grade pain relievers and even they didn't always help very much. There is a topical anesthetic you can get for tooth aches but it did not seem to help with an exposed root. It would get rid of the pain temporarily but if you try to eat at all the pain will come right back and of course being able to eat is one of the primary reasons for needing to get rid of the pain.
Also I am not sure what harm any of these things may cause if your wife is breast feeding.

Like Chi said, to get rid of it you will need to go to the doctors. Considering the situation you should do that as soon as possible. Since she has recently undergone fairly major medical treatment that is obviously a problem. Talk to a dentist about it, and your family doctor if you have one. You should see about getting at least some of the work done during your FMLA so you will be there to help her.
 
  • #8
It's probably better for her to just get them removed sooner than later and avoid chewing on the painful side of the mouth until the appointment to get them removed. Taking pain killers isn't a good thing for the baby, since those can be transmitted to the baby via her milk. And, from the severity of symptoms you've described, it sounds like those teeth need to get removed ASAP...they're probably starting to abcess leading to such extreme pain.
 
  • #9
Kronos, I think it's an overwhelming PF opinion that she needs medical care ASAP.

Plus, I'm a mom, I know how hard those first months are. I can't imagine having to deal with that kind of pain on top of everything.

My advice to you would be, take the lead on this. She's stressed from every direction, so she may not be making the best decisions. You call and make the appointment, take time off work to watch the baby if needed.

I'd hate to think her memories of the first several weeks of being a mom will be dominated by unpleasant memories of tooth pain.
 
  • #10
Gosh, it's hard to imagine anything more pitiful than a new mommy who is already hardly getting sleep having to deal with tooth pain. I know I've had it so bad that it made it hard to get rest. I think Lisa's suggestion that you take the lead on this was excellent.

If she doesn't want to do all five, maybe she can at least get the most painful side taken care of. Personally, I had 5 done at once, though, and it was a breeze. I had it done in the morning and was out renting videos with my family that afternoon. The next few days I had a little bit of swelling, but very, very minimal discomfort.
 
  • #11
Math Is Hard said:
If she doesn't want to do all five, maybe she can at least get the most painful side taken care of. Personally, I had 5 done at once, though, and it was a breeze. I had it done in the morning and was out renting videos with my family that afternoon. The next few days I had a little bit of swelling, but very, very minimal discomfort.

I had 2 done simultaneously, and I couldn't eat solid food for 3 weeks. During that time, I could never even open my mouth to speak without blood gushing down my throat...I was on Percocet constantly
 
  • #12
leroyjenkens said:
5 wisdom teeth? I thought we only had 4. I think one of those is a molar.

'Wisdom teeth' are molars and yes, it is possible to have more than four.
 
  • #13
I had 2 removed with a pair of pliers and some novacaine while I was sitting in a chair with a rubber ball in my mouth. I could feel and hear the teeth cracking as he pulled them out. Then the military doctor gave me some motrin and gauze and sent me back to work. The area where he pulled the teeth was sensitive for a few days, which made chewing tough, but I didn't have the option of a special diet. Also, my jaw ached for about a week.
 
  • #14
Huckleberry said:
I had 2 removed with a pair of pliers and some novacaine while I was sitting in a chair with a rubber ball in my mouth. I could feel and hear the teeth cracking as he pulled them out. Then the military doctor gave me some motrin and gauze and sent me back to work. The area where he pulled the teeth was sensitive for a few days, which made chewing tough, but I didn't have the option of a special diet. Also, my jaw ached for about a week.

Are you serious? And waterboarding is torture?

Edit: (didn't read the novocaine part originally)
 
  • #15
I'm 53 years old, and my wisdom teeth never emerged. A few years ago, I was experiencing some discomfort and checked with my dentist. It turned out that one of them was impacted. I had it, and the upper counterpart, extracted. It was a bit weird to hear them shattering as he knocked them out with a hammer and chisel and pliers, but there was never any discomfort. I had to chew on the other side for a few days, but there certainly wasn't any bleeding or residual pain. The two on the right side are still there.

edit: Jeez, but it weirds me out to see that '53' in print. I still feel 30ish, except for the COPD. I might grow up some day, but I'm not going to push it. :biggrin:
 
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  • #16
The brain is about 3 inches from wisdom teeth roots, Moonbear is right to suggest a abscess is a medical emergency. Loss of jaw bone, septicemia and even Endocarditis {inflammation of the inside of the heart}, all have very serious out comes.
 
  • #17
lisab said:
My advice to you would be, take the lead on this. She's stressed from every direction, so she may not be making the best decisions. You call and make the appointment, take time off work to watch the baby if needed.

I completely agree on this. She probably can't imagine leaving her 3 wk old baby in someone else's care for a few hours while she gets the teeth removed, so someone else is going to have to shove her out the door to the dentist and handle all the scheduling to ensure she is taken care of too. She's not going to be able to take care of that baby as well as she could if she's not taking care of herself too. You certainly don't want to wait until she's spending days in the hospital (hypatia is completely right about the risks of not treating an abcessed tooth, except that the brain is even closer to the teeth that she suggests...the nerves that are getting painful that an infection can follow create a direct path to the brain) when she could have been treated in a couple of hours in a dentist's office.

Line up the childcare help she needs for the day she gets the teeth removed, and maybe a day or two after in case she's not feeling up to snuff (my own experience with wisdom teeth was almost entirely pain free...I had a couple of stitches in my gums from the ones that had to be surgically removed, and the only discomfort I had was where the knots from the stitches were rubbing...I didn't even take ibuprofen let alone the percocet prescribed for pain...no swelling, no trouble opening my mouth or eating...my oral surgeon was shocked when he called to check on me in the evening the day of the procedure and I told him I was in the middle of eating a bowl full of chili...he said if I could eat chili on the day of surgery, I must be fine). Some do experience more swelling afterward (though, junglebeast's experience is highly unusual, and really he shouldn't have just suffered through that but gone back to the oral surgeon...the bleeding should stop within a few hours of surgery, and blood gushing for days means something went wrong, like an artery getting cut, that should have been treated by the oral surgeon and stopped).

With a little baby around, I am positive you must know people will be lining up to offer to help watch her for a few hours or even a few days...people LOVE to take care of little babies. If you don't have parents, siblings and in-laws on hand, ask coworkers, or even round up your poker buddies (get them to help with feedings and diaper changes now, and you'll never again need to worry that something else might conflict with poker night that you can't get out of :wink:).

(And P.S...congrats on the new baby!)
 
  • #18
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, and I agree, taking the initiative and making the appointment for her is a great idea.. She's the stubborn type that will wait until the last possible moment to do it.

Things are still kinda hectic right now which is why we haven't gone to get them removed yet. I'm working 2 jobs because she had a c-section and can't go back to work yet, we have hospital bills that aren't getting paid through my insurance because my daughter wasn't on the insurance when we had her (which to me seems a little ridiculous to me in the first place).. And just stuff like that.

But consider it done and done.

And thanks moonbear! :) She's absolutely adorable, and growing way too fast... a little over 3 weeks over and she's already rolling over on her own and lifting and supporting her head by herself...
 
  • #19
Kronos, at least get her started on antibiotics, you want to get that infection taken care of ASAP!
 
  • #20
Evo said:
Kronos, at least get her started on antibiotics, you want to get that infection taken care of ASAP!

That's what we've been doing for the past day or so, and it's helped a lot! Now it's just right near her cheek bone that hurts, she says it feels like she got punched in the face. But we're scheduling a dentist appointment on Monday to get it all taken care of.
 
  • #21
Kronos5253 said:
Things are still kinda hectic right now which is why we haven't gone to get them removed yet. I'm working 2 jobs because she had a c-section and can't go back to work yet, we have hospital bills that aren't getting paid through my insurance because my daughter wasn't on the insurance when we had her (which to me seems a little ridiculous to me in the first place).. And just stuff like that.
Evidently your daughter's life is a pre-existing condition.
 
  • #22
Chi Meson said:
Evidently your daughter's life is a pre-existing condition.

Well I didn't think it was possible to put my daughter on my health insurance if she's not born yet, so I never did. My insurance company even told me to call AFTER she was born.. Not to mention, about 2 days after she was born I put her on the insurance.. So I'm wondering what it holding it up.

Also, the good part is that with my insurance it wasn't considered a preexisting condition, so I'm just wondering what's holding it up.. But I'm calling them tomorrow to sort it out anyway, so it's all good with that part.
 
  • #23
Kronos5253 said:
Well I didn't think it was possible to put my daughter on my health insurance if she's not born yet, so I never did. My insurance company even told me to call AFTER she was born.. Not to mention, about 2 days after she was born I put her on the insurance.. So I'm wondering what it holding it up.

Also, the good part is that with my insurance it wasn't considered a preexisting condition, so I'm just wondering what's holding it up.. But I'm calling them tomorrow to sort it out anyway, so it's all good with that part.
Push back on the insurance, I don't remember having any issues with either of my children. You may be dealing with someone that doesn't know better, or trying to give ou a hard time.

I hope your wife is feeling better. I had an abcess once, the antiobiotics got rid of it and the pain went away, then I had a root canal and crown. Wisdom teeth aren't necessary and can just be pulled, normally.
 

1. How can I relieve tooth pain at home?

One of the most effective ways to relieve tooth pain at home is to rinse your mouth with warm salt water. You can also apply a cold compress to the affected area to reduce swelling and pain. Over-the-counter pain relievers can also provide temporary relief.

2. What foods should I avoid if I have tooth pain?

Foods that are too hot, cold, or sweet should be avoided if you have tooth pain. Additionally, hard foods that require a lot of chewing, such as nuts and hard candy, can aggravate the pain. Stick to soft foods and avoid anything that causes discomfort.

3. Can I use clove oil to alleviate tooth pain?

Yes, clove oil has natural analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties that can help relieve tooth pain. You can apply a small amount of clove oil to the affected area using a cotton ball or swab. However, make sure to dilute the oil with a carrier oil, such as olive oil, before use.

4. When should I see a dentist for tooth pain?

If your tooth pain persists for more than a day or two, or if it becomes severe, it is best to see a dentist. You should also schedule an appointment if you experience any other symptoms, such as fever or swelling, or if you notice any changes in the affected tooth, such as discoloration or a visible chip or crack.

5. How can I prevent tooth pain in the future?

The best way to prevent tooth pain is to maintain good oral hygiene practices, including brushing twice a day, flossing daily, and visiting the dentist regularly for check-ups and cleanings. Avoiding sugary and acidic foods and drinks can also help prevent tooth pain and decay.

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