O/T Does this sound like an abscess?

Sounds to me as though it might be a wisdom tooth coming through, abcesses tend to be very painful. If in doubt go see your dentist. Hope it gets better soon.[:'(]

I had something similar and thought it was a absess but in fact went away after a couple of days.

An absess will be very painful and can sometimes make you feel as if you have a fever,,, if you have these symptoms id book into the dentist

Any swelling on the gum needs to be recognised and to me it sounds like an abcess. Whiskey will kill it off ;-) failing that go see ur dentist.

Thanks everyone, I have just rung my dentist and they won't be able to book me in for another 2 weeks or so as I haven't been since December 2005 ? (bad I know!)

The receptionist said to call my doctor's and they would be able to prescribe penicillin if it is an abscess - strange? Thought it would be just a dental issue!

An absess is UNBEARABLY painful as it is an infection under the tooth in the gum which pushes the teeth up and presses on the nerves it feels as if someone to break your jaw with a crowbar. Antiobiotics are the first treatment usually followed by root fillings and in some cases extraction. If the pain does get really bad you can take neurofen and paracetamol a couple of hours apart. If you have an absess you will be counting the minutes till your next pain killer, so I am guessing it's unlikely to be one, unless in the early stages.

I agree. When I had an absess I was in tears with the pain and no amount of painkillers helped at all. I needed antibiotics and eventually I just needed to get the tooth out but I had to wait until the absess had faded slightly.

Thanks again everyone. Beginning to think it might not be an abscess as I am in nowhere near the amount of pain you have described, it's just slightly sore! Unless it's in the early stages I suppose.

Haven't been able to get a dentist appointment so am going to try and get a doc's appointment as that's what the dental surgery told me to do...not sure how much help it will be but if it is an abscess or something along those lines I suppose I need to catch it early!

?

My OH had this a few weeks ago and was in agony. He had an abscess under a flap of skin which had lifted as his wisdom tooth was pushing through. He managed to book an emergency appointment at a local dentists. Phone NHS direct and ask for the local emergency dental surgeries. (We also hadn't been since we were 16, I'm now 21!)

The dentist was shocked we hadn't been for so long, but said we both have brilliant teeth ?

You need to be careful with an abcess as well as it can make that side of your face swell (one of the side effects ) so best to get it checked out sooner rather than later.

I'm a bit puzzled though as any mouth problems, gums abcess's etc a dentist should prescribe an antibiotic but then again maybe that's just how they work over here.