“I have a dental emergency with pain and swelling. It hurts! Can you do something? Please!”
We’ve heard those words before at Dental Care Group. You must believe us when we say that if we could only snap our fingers and stop the pain, we most certainly would. However, we cannot fight or change your biology.
Here is what is stopping us …
An inflamed tooth, also referred to as a “hot” tooth, is bad news. The problem is that the nerve is inflamed and the tissues surrounding the tooth are infected. Unfortunately, there is no way to give any anesthetic or freezing to the nerve to stop or at least relieve some of the pain. The surrounding tissues are highly drug resistant when they are infected. There is an infection causing the nerve to be inflamed, and we need to get the infection under control. This usually means taking antibiotics, which take time to clear up the infection. (“Are you kidding me?!?!?” No, we are not.)
As your emergency dentist in Toronto, we know that you want to get that intense pain out of your mouth NOW. The tear in your eye is not because of happiness.
The only way to get that tooth out now is to find an oral surgeon who has the time and the facilities available to give you a general anesthetic and knock you out completely. The tooth can then be extracted, and you will not feel anything. This is not a cheap alternative. Anything less than a complete general anesthetic will become one of those horror stories where the dentist really hurt you. We are very sympathetic to your plight. There is not much that can be done in the short term.
Even though the nerve is infected, the tooth may still be salvageable. It would be in your best interest to explore the alternative of saving the tooth, by having a root canal. and then putting a crown on the tooth.
The important fact is that the antibiotics will work, and the pain will go away. This is sort of like the eye of the hurricane. It is a small window of opportunity to get your tooth looked after. If you miss the opportunity, the pain will come back with a vengeance.
Please contact us – your emergency dentist in Toronto – to get it looked after as quickly as possible. If that means an extraction, so be it. But you do not want this kind of pain ever again.
Please make an appointment as soon as possible, get a prescription for the antibiotics, and get yourself out of pain as quickly as possible. A toothache is never any fun.
Dr. Chris Binert graduated from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry, 1983 with honors. She has been a member of the Ontario Dental Association and the Canadian Dental Association since her graduation.
Dr. Binert is currently an instructor at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, and has taught there for over 25 years. She is currently the Director of the Dental Care Group.