So the other day I start getting this terrible pain in the lower left side of my jaw. It hurts my gum (left side), it hurts my ear (left side) and it gives me a bit of a headache. So I grab my flashlight and take a look in the mirror, and what do I see in the very back on the lower left side of my gums? A wisdom tooth coming in! God almighty it hurts. I can barely eat, I'm constantly aware of it. I don't have any kind of health insurance, so I can't afford to go to the Dentist, but is there anything I can do to alleviate the pain aside from ibuprofen every 6 hours? It doesn't last long enough and I certainly don't feel comfortable taking that much of any kind of medication. How long does it take for a wisdom tooth to come in? Help is greatly appreciated! J.
Sounds impacted. Only cure is to have it chiseled out of your jaw, and your stinky gumhole sewed up. Start saving pennies. And sleep well knowing your conservative friends valiantly protected you from public health care.
I feel your pain. I had mine out many years ago myself. But the longer you wait, the worse it will be.
I have no health insurance of any kind. Also, I'm not sure the tooth is impacted. It looks like it's just coming in. It's not pushing up against any of the other teeth, and I can actually see the tooth coming through the gumline. J.
Dental is not covered even in many countries with public health care. I'd go to the dentist for a checkup, while it will cost you a bit of money they can at least tell you what is wrong and then you can figure out your options.
Assuming you're right that it's not impacted, you're still likely to be better off getting it pulled sooner rather than later. If the opposing tooth is impacted or doesn't come in soon then you'll end up biting into the opposing gum, which is a bad thing. Most people also don't really have space for their wisdom teeth, which means the longer they stay in the more they push other teeth out of alignment. That said, we do have a resident dentist here--Robotech Master--and you might consider firing off a PM with your question if he doesn't respond in this thread. Worst case is he says he doesn't want to give professional advice over the internet.
The whole Internet at your fingertips and asking us knuckleheads is the best you can come up with? Why not WebMD? That said, when mine were giving me problems, I used Anbesol . Or maybe it was Orajel. At either rate, it was a moot point for me because they were impacted and had to come out. Happily, I think my Mom & Dad paid for it for me (but it might've come out of my pocket. I forget.)
To be honest, I don't remember mine hurting that bad when they first came in. But then again, I haven't had problems with the rest of my molars coming in either. You might want to see a dentist anyway, just to make sure everything's ok with it. They may not charge a whole lot for just a check up even without insurance, but just think about like this: it'd give you a lot of relief at least to know what the hell's going on.
When I had healthcare, our dental plan was a good one. I only paid $2 a month and they allowed 2 free cleanings a year, zero-cost evaluations and checkups, and a very discounted program should I ever want caps, fills or anything else. I miss that plan. I wanted to ask him but I didn't want to bother him. I used to get annoyed when people would find out I'm a PC technician and immediately launch into why their computer isn't working. I like to help, but I don't like it when people just assume I'm going to give them an answer unsolicited. By the way, your avatar makes my eye twitch. WebMD has a thousand articles, and it doesn't help when you type in "wisdom tooth coming in" and get results like "Why You Might Have Mouth Cancer". If I were a hypochondriac I'd never leave my room and wear Kleenex boxes on my feet. I'll probably ask around, but I know it's going to cost me more than I can afford. No health insurance, unemployed, I'm not seeing very many options. I like the first part of your two part strategy. J.
It wouldn't hurt just to check. When I had to have one of my wisdom teeth pulled, it was about $300 w/o insurance, so a check up shouldn't be too bad, hopefully.
I've had my wisdom teeth since I was about 15. Problem is, the bottom ones are slightly covered by gum, so I can't clean them properly, and also the gum covering them sometimes gets inflamed, which is made worse by the top teeth biting down on them, so I've regularly been on antibiotics these last few years. So, I'm getting all four taken out (have to have the top ones taken out as well or they'll be biting down on gum) for £00.00 because I'm unemployed. Oh, and I had a gold filling put in last week for that same amount
John, it's quite possible there's nothing wrong with the tooth; it's just erupting normally through the gum. Some people's wisdom teeth never erupt (they'll show up on an x-ray, but they stay below the gumline), others have hellacious trouble with impactions. But sometimes the teeth just arrive normally sometime after age 20. Best to shell out for a dentist visit just to get an assessment. (See if there's a free or low-cost clinic in your area.) If the tooth is fine, you'll get that reassurance and it won't cost that much. If, on the other hand, the tooth is impacted, it will have to come out. That's when you discuss a payment plan with your dentist. By the time you read this, the damn thing may have worked its way through the gum and the pain has stopped. Now all you have to do is wait for the other three (or at least the mirror one on the side) to put you through the same ordeal. Let us know...
Sorry. I missed this thread somehow. How old are you? Seems like you're wisdom teeth are coming in kind of late. Or have you just never noticed it before? It's really hard to say how long it will take to come in without actually looking at it. It might never come in if the tooth is sitting sideways or if there isn't enough room in your jaw. It shouldn't be that expensive to pull one tooth, even if you don't have dental insurance. You could try a dental school in the area, or just call around and see how much different dentists would charge. Most general dentists probably won't even mess with the thing... they'd probably refer you to an oral surgeon. I can pull most wisdom teeth that have erupted but there are some wicked looking ones that I would not mess with. You can buy topical anesthetics like Orajel or something similar to numb the area but that is really only a temporary fix. But without actually seeing an x-ray or looking at the tooth, I can't really tell you how long the pain will last. It might go away on its own and then flare up again a few months down the road. You could ask your physician for an antibiotic, if the tooth is infected then that should help. PM if you have other questions.
I've had just one visible wisdom tooth for a number of years now, which I think is kinda wierd. The only problem I had with it was a flap of gum meat partially covering it that took a long time to recede. Other than that, it's just a little extra brushing effort to reach back there.
$300! *punches Dan in the face* Yeah, this one looks partially covered, but it's still coming in or erupting or whatever the hell it's called. I bought some Orajel liquid until I can figure out what to do. I dread the idea of finding the cheapest Dentist on the block (Did you graduate from Harvard Upstairs Medical College too?!), but I'll keep you informed. I'm 29. I never noticed it before. This is the first time I've felt anything like this. That's probably what I'm going to have to do. I've been hoping it's just going to come in and be done but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be hurting like this. So it looks more and more like I'll be seeing a Dentist. I bought some Orajel to put on the area. Of course I missed the first time and now the whole back section of the left side of my jaw is numb. There might be some infection. I say this because the area right behind my left ear is swollen just a bit. I've also been using Listerine twice a day to disinfect anything as best as I can. It seems to be going along pretty quickly. Two days ago, there was just a tiny spot there and I wasn't sure what was causing it. Yesterday I could see part of the tooth. Today I can see quite a bit more of it. I don't think it would help but I could take a picture of it. Yeah, I only see one and it's this one way in the back. J.
I hate to say this, but you're probably gonna have to pony up for at least a limited dental exam. There isn't really a whole lot you can do at home except wait for it to stop hurting on its own... which will happen eventually, but you might not be able to wait it out. Cheap dental work does not always equal low quality dental work. I work at a public health clinic where most of the work is for free. Could I be making more as a private dentist? Yes. But I don't mind the fixed salary if it means I can help out people who can't otherwise afford it. Not all of us are greedy money snatchers! But in the meantime, you could check into a ER clinic and ask the doctors for some penicillin. If it is pain from infection, that should help. If it is pain from a tooth eruption, then the only option is to get it out or wait it out.
I found a local Dentist. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they can do. I have a very high pain threshold, so I'm wondering just how bad it really hurts. Admit it! You want a BMW and a villa on the Tuscan coast! How long does the average tooth eruption take, if I may ask (just in general)? J.
Oh, that varies a lot. Depends on your age, what tooth you're talking about, and maybe even your ethnicity. The 3rd molars usually start erupting in the early 20s but I've seen people as young as 14 with their third molars already starting to come out... I actually had all of mine taken out about a year ago because they were growing in wrong and I knew it'd cause problems later.
I remember when I got my wisdom teeth out, I thought "Good Lord. If getting them out hurts so bad... I couldn't stand to leave them in!" Hope things go well J..
Well, I'm calling our local Dentist today. I tried yesterday but I guess they took the day off. Anyhoo, hopefully they can get me in reasonably quick to look at this because it is really hurting. Orajel's useless as hell, I'm periodically rinsing my mouth out with mouthwash (to keep any gunk out and to burn away any germs), and every 6 hours I'm popping some ibuprofen. All that still only takes the edge off, and it's bothering me greatly. I can pay the $50 out of pocket for the evaluation, I just want it gone! My mother takes a look at my emerging wisdom tooth and says "what if they have to remove it?" and I tell her "if that's what they have to do then it's what they have to do." I mean, the thing is cutting my cheek for crying out loud. It didn't start doing that until this morning, so it must be coming in at an angle, which just sucks that much more. I wish I had dental insurance. Hell, I wish I had insurance! J.
Went to the dentist today. So he takes an x-ray, looks at the tooth and says what I've got is the back part of my gum has a flap over a bit of the wisdom tooth. He says the short term solution is to use a plastic syringe and blast it with salt water solution to get the gunk trapped underneath out. Then he charged me $110. No painkillers, no antibiotics. He did tell me the long term solution was to get my wisdom teeth removed, but Jesus Christ that's expensive and I don't have that kind of money and won't until I get insurance. If this temporary solution works, that's fine, but I don't know, I don't think anything was really accomplished. This thing still hurts like hell, is inflamed, and I'm trying to get back there and get the gunk out but without much success. I took three more ibuprofen and am going to try again in a little bit. Damn I could have saved $110. J.
That's what I had with my teeth. Every few years, I'd have that, but still be in pain, then eventually get antibiotics. Hence now, I'm getting them all taken out (for free!!* *gloat*) Have paracetamol, ibuprofen is best for inflammatory pain, but pain generally, have paracetamol as well. You can mix the two no prob. And keep rinsing your mouth with lukewarm salt water. Try not to poke it too much, rinse instead. *of course by free I mean no up-front cost but I will be paying it in taxes blah blah yaddity yah. Whatever. Still free akaiconcerned.
I found having part of your gum on your wisdom tooth causing infection and bacteria from food particles and germs is called Pericontis. I looked that up on Google. My dentist was of no help to me there. I also found out that because it is quite painful, usually an antibiotic is given for possible infection, and painkillers are given to dull the pain. I got none of this. For $110, I got an x-ray and a "squirt some salt water on it". You know, I think I'll find a better dentist. Well, once I have insurance I'll find a better dentist. J.
Corsodyl (or its American counterpart) should fix that, its a super-strong mouthwash thats kills anything in the mouth (including your tastebuds for a few hours). The strongest, most useful type is only available on prescription here, not sure about over there http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100003692.html
My doctor prescribed me some painkillers after I called him about the excruciating pain lancing through my jaw and my dentist's completely inept handling of anything that may have helped me in any way today. So he prescribes me Tramadol 50 mg. Holy. Shit. I really don't like this stuff. It's been in my system for 2 hours now and God almighty I feel like I just got back from a Grateful Dead concert. The pain has subsided to a dull ache, but the other effects of this stuff is seriously kicking my ass and I just don't like it. J.
