Dental help.

[ZachariahM]

Hi, I believe I have a tooth absess. There's a chip in one of my teeth, in my upper second premolar, on the left side of my face. There's plainly some black cavity/infection inside, and my upper left cheek is swollen and hard. I've been unable to get to the dentist for a month, and I have an appointment in two weeks. I've been taking amoxicyllin, admittedly not as often as I should have been. Probably 1-2 capsules a day. The pain isn't intense, although it has been increasing lately, but the tooth is definitely sensitive to temperature, and my cheek doesn't hurt unless I press it firmly. I feel as though it may be affecting the sight in my left eye, as my peripheral sometimes becomes blurry, although that's probably just a mental freak out thing.


My question is, should I take an emergency trip to the dentist now? Or is my two week appointment enough?

[jake2662]

A tooth abscess is a pocket of pus that's caused by a bacterial infection. The abscess can occur at different regions of the tooth for different reasons. A periapical (per-e-AP-ih-kul) abscess occurs at the tip of the root, whereas a periodontal (per-e-o-DON-tul) abscess occurs in the gums next to a tooth root. The information here refers specifically to periapical abscesses.

[jemma116]

If I were in your shoes, I would definitely take an emergency trip to the dentist right now, especially with the symptoms that you have.  Two weeks in the state you are in is far too long to wait if you have not seen the dentist at all.

If the doctor or dentist prescribed you with the antibiotic, these should taken as prescribed.  The dosage is either 1 three times a day, or 1 four times a day.  You must take them as prescribed otherwise they will be of no use and it will take longer to get rid of the bacteria.

Best wishes.