True dental emergencies aren't that common but it's great you have a go-to dentist who can help you when the need arises. Everyone should have such a relationship with a dentist but not everyone does . I hope you feel better soon.

SamKaren, I had an emergency dental visit yesterday too. It didn't really feel toothache like, but one of the med techs looked into my mouth with a light for me while at my mothers facility on Tuesday and she said swollen and looked like an infection that needed to be seen.

My dentist said a root is fractured on a very rear lower molar with long ago done root canal. I'm taking an antibiotic and tylenol. He said the best way to resolve it is remove the tooth and have an implant placed or the tooth above it could gradually move. I'm not at all happy with the time or expense this is going to require, but have an appointment for a consultation with specialist dentist next week. I came home crabby, being a little vain about my teeth ;0)

I'm feeling better today, I hope you are too....

Hi morz8,

Sorry that you're having this unexpected and major problem to cope with.

But ... my reaction was, "Are you feeling/have you been feeling somewhat vain - in vain?".

Hope that things work out better than you're anticipating, at this point ... and at lower cost than feared.

ole joyful

Wow, must be going around. I almost called the dentist today after several,days of increasing pain that radiated up into my ear. However I woke up this morning and it seemed a bit better, not so sore that I couldn’t touch it. I gave the area around the tooth an especially good flossing and that helped. By this afternoon I cna almost bite on it without pain. I am sure it’s as swollen gums not the tooth itself.

sorry others have been suffering. Tooth pain is awful and the pain I. The wallet after seeing the dentist is worse.

morz8, I had a similar experience a few years ago. The last molar, bottom back, fractured. I had a root canal done by an endodontist. Six months later, the tooth still wasn't happy so it was extracted. It's not visible because it's at the back.

My dentist also said the opposing tooth may move and that he'd keep an eye on it. He said if so, he could make an appliance to wear when home that would provide resistance to it,. He advised against putting in a prosthetic for an location that's really not visible, not needed for chewing, and a bit more difficult than other places to access.

It's two years later and the tooth above is happy and in place. Hopefully that will be your experience.

Oh, thanks Elmer. Maybe I'll get better (or more welcome) advice next week than what I was led to believe. I won't count on it but its nice to know there may be options.

Well I am actually feeling better today thanks to my 800 mg ibuprofen. My problem is I have what I call disintegrating bone in my mouth. My entire family has it and most of them have complete Dentures now. What happened was there is very little bone left where my bridge is and it shifted. It not only pressed against the nerve but it rubbed in a way that caused the infection. My dentist can't do a root canal because he said there's not enough bone left there to do one so we're going with a new bridge. I'm on antibiotics for the next 15 days but at least I got my ibuprofen.

Yes, I'm very lucky with my dentist getting me in so quickly. I've been seeing him for the last 30 years and he is wonderful. He knows that the bridge is expensive and he took a customer discount of $500 off the bill for me. Hoping my insurance covers another good chunk of it but my dentist said pay me what you can when you can.

I hope everyone else who is having problems with their teeth is doing a lot better too. There is nothing worse than a toothache in my opinion. You guys take care and keep us posted on how you're doing.

SamKaren

Your resident dj

Sam!!! I have wondered where you were...and how you are doing. So good to see you here!! How is life treating you? We need to catch up. Hugs!

WANDA I missed you so much

I guess if your bone is receding that you cannot get an implant, which would be much better than a bridge. Kevin replaced his bridge with an implant and is much happier now. Have you considered implants?

I went to the dentist last week and had not been in over a year, due to the pandemic, which is unfortunate because now I have a large cavity that probably needs a root canal. My dentist in L.A. does not do root canals but she said she could try to make do with a filling, if that is what I prefer. I have an appointment with her for July 1, but I plan to try to get an appointment with an orthodontist in the desert, as I had planned to spend the last week of June and most of July in Cathedral City. I found one in Desert Hot Springs that I think will be good. DHS is about 10 miles north of Palm Springs and Cathedral City, but only about 20 minutes away. It is also much lower rent, and so the dentist there should charge a lot less, according to the reviews that I have read. He got very good reviews from all the sites that reviewed him, and so I think he should be fine.

I need to start finding medical professionals in the desert anyway, since I spend about half of my time there. I won't go to a doctor there until I change my insurance, as I only have coverage for UCLA doctors as this point, and there aren't any in Palm Springs. I have no dental insurance and have been paying all my costs myself. I found dental insurance to be too expensive, and it does not cover everything anyway. I do not think that the insurance companies are out to lose money by providing dental coverage.

I hope everything works out for you and that you are able to keep the pain under control. I have also found the 800 ibuprofen to be very helpful.

I "liked" your post, but not because of your pain, but rather that you are on your way to being pain free now. :)

Glad you're feeling better. We get a lot of calls at night and over the weekend for extreme tooth pain. Sometimes people just wait and wait until they can't take it anymore and then there is no dentist available to help them. Glad you got it taken care of quickly.

(bumped by new person who may or may not return to edit the post and add spam.)

I didn't notice that this was an old thread, but it seemed timely - at least for me.

The dentist that I found in Desert Hot Springs is an endodontist, and he is experienced with root canals. People who have had root canals from him have given him the best reviews, and so I feel comfortable scheduling an appointment with him, providing he is available. I agree that a band-aid approach is not desirable, but I do prefer having the root canal done in Coachella Valley rather than in L.A.

I really need to save this tooth as it is an important molar (#30, I think), and I cannot afford another implant at this time. The cost of the crown is bad enough, and when I had insurance, it did not cover the entire cost of the crown and paid nothing for implants.

Endodontists as you know are dentists who have received several years of additional training after dental school and specialize in doing root canal procedures. They do other things too but that's their bread and butter. General dentists have had limited training in doing root canals, their license certainly allows them to do so and some will do them. But few have the specialized equipment and mostly none have the experience that a good endodontist has.

Good luck.

Tooth pain is the worst! I think our teeth were very badly designed, with all of those little nooks and crannies that invite problems. How much better off we would have been with one large tooth top and bottom wrapping around the entire jaw!

Happy to......

I also had such a case and it was not great.

Will "Benjamin" return and edit his post to tell us more?

Oh man, I had a similar situation a couple of months ago. I woke up with terrible pain, and I had no idea what to do, as my dentist was out of town. It was also a terrible infection by the bridge. The dentist told me to take ibuprofen until he comes back. However, I didn't have a prescription. So, I had to until he came back. The situation got so bad that he had to remove the affected teeth. After that, I even developed a dry socket. I didn't know how long dry socket packing should stay in, and I was afraid the situation would worsen. Thankfully everything was fine.