I had a terrible toothache a few weeks ago and scheduled an appointment with my dentist. He said I had an infection in one of my bottom wisdom teeth, which he felt needed a specialist. I went to see the specialist who believes all the wisdom teeth need to be extracted. Unfortunately, he can’t do the procedure for another month, so he gave me some antibiotics and some pain meds. The infections started to feel better and I thought it was healed, but a couple of days after the meds were finished my jaw started hurting again. Does this mean the infection is back? Will this be a problem? If so, what do I do?
Elle
Dear Elle,
Yes, it seems your tooth infection has come back. A lot of people mistakenly think that a tooth infection can be “cured” with an antibiotic. However, dental infections are different than other types of infections. The medicine doesn’t cure you. Instead, it just holds off the infection. You will be fine for a while, but then once you’ve finished the meds, your infection will flare back up, as you have experienced yourself.
What you need is more antibiotics. I would suggest you call your dentist and tell him or her what is going on. Ask him to provide you enough antibiotics to get you through until your wisdom tooth extraction procedure, plus about five days more. If he doesn’t do that I suggest you call the specialist. If left untreated, the infection can move up toward your brain or down your throat and close off your breathing. I would consider this a dental emergency, so please do not put off getting more medication.
As an aside, you are at a good age to have your wisdom teeth removed. If you waited too many years, the area would be less pliable and there will be more of a risk for complications.
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