Completely off-topic but these two issues have so dominated my life over the past three weeks I thought others might find my experience (and hints and tips) useful.
Tooth Pain
There are few things worse than tooth pain: it feels as though you can’t get away from it. The worst form of tooth pain is caused by an infection and this can only be treated by taking antibiotics: these are available from your dentist.
These are my tips for handling the pain before you get to see the dentist or while you’re awaiting treatment
1) Get into a regular pain-killing regime
Depending on the nature of the pain, Paracetamol and Ibuprofen will have varying impact. Where the tooth pain is caused by swelling as a result of infection, Ibuprofen is likely to be more effective. The good news is that you can take them together. My recommendation is to take them in a staggered fashion. In other words, take 2 paracetamol then, two hours later, take ibuprofen. However, remember you must not exceed the daily total dose. Check this in this instructions that came with your medicine but the general guidance is no more than 4000mg of Paracetamol a day (4 doses of 2 500mg tablets) or 1200mg of Ibuprofen (3 doses of 2 200mg tables or 6 doses of single tablets).
2) Ice cubes are a life saver
Get a roll of those plastic bags that you fill with water and then put in the freezer. The resulting ice “cubes” (actually they’re ovoid in shape) are ideally sized and shaped to roll around your mouth. In my experience, even when the pain was at its worst, I got complete relief for at least a few minutes after doing this.
Preparing for fillings/extraction
In the words of Nessa from Gavin and Stacy “I’m not gonna lie to you”. An extraction is unpleasant: I had mine three days ago and I hope not to have to repeat it. It’s not painful (or at least it shouldn’t be) but there’s an unpleasant feeling of pressure being applied. In my case, my molar took just under 10 minutes to get out which is a bit longer than usual as it had a curved root.
Top tips for preparing for and copying with fillings/extraction:
1) Find a good dentist!
This is absolutely essential. You must find a dentist you can trust. If you are nervous about seeing the dentist then he or she must be made aware of this. Preferably, get a recommendation from a friend. Personally, I prefer going private: there’s a subtle change in the relationship from “patient” to “client” which I like.
2) Make sure your sugar level is high enough
You will have a pain-killing injection of local anaesthetic (or several injections). In me, these injections trigger a sugar dip which my dentist says is very common and is your body reacting in shock to the injection. Buy some Lucozade tabs from your local chemist and take a couple before you go in. Whilst this might not prevent you from feeling a bit rubbish, it will stop you passing out.
3) Take in your iPod
This is particularly important if you’re having a filling. This process might take 15-20 minutes. It isn’t horrible and there shouldn’t be any pain but it will pass much more quickly if you have something to distract you. Personally, I prefer listening to an audio book or something similar rather than music, not least because I want to be able to hear the dentist.
Adopting these tips will reduce the pain before seeing the dentist and make the process of either having a filling or extraction less unpleasant.
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