I need some advice. I’ve already had a few teeth in the back of my mouth sort of come out on their own. Now I have one that is infected. It’s gotten pretty bad and my right cheek is swollen. I look a bit like that guy from the Godfather. I do have some antibiotics that my ex-wife left here. She never took them because she went through a phase where she didn’t believe in “western” medicine. It’s a z-pack. Will that work for my tooth?
Bradley
Dear Bradley,
I’m sorry you are going through so many difficulties at once. That is hard. Be aware that while a z-pack can temporarily hold your infection at bay, it will NOT take care of it. In fact, unless you get the proper treatment in a timely manner, you can actually end up in a worse situation than you were in before.
In order to properly treat an infected tooth a dentist has to physically remove the infected pulp. There are two ways to properly do this. The first is with a root canal treatment. This is the ideal because it will save your tooth. The second is by extracting the tooth.
Because your cheek is swollen, I would consider this a dental emergency. It has spread out of your tooth. You don’t want it to reach your brain or heart because then it will become a life-threatening situation.
This blog is brought to you by a compassionate dentist in Tulsa, Dr. Ryan Noah.