I'm having major tooth pain. I need to get a molar removed, but can't do that until Wed or Thursday. The dentist that examined me today wrote me a script for Tylenol 3 (300/30) and amoxicylin. It doesn't seem that the Tylenol 3 is doing anything. I'm still in major pain. The prescription calls for 1 or 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hours. I took the first one at 2:50pm. After it was apparant that 1 wasn't going to cut the pain I took a second one at 4:00pm. Still, I'm in pretty severe pain. The codeine made me a bit groggy, but I'm not able to sleep. I haven't slept since Saturday night, and was hoping to be able to do it tonite.

Can I?
1. Take a 3rd pill when it's time for round 2?
2. Supplement the Tylenol 3 with Extra Strength Tylenol? (I do worry about too much acetominophin since I took A LOT the last few days)
3. Suggestions from the Doc?

Thanks in advance, I really would like to be able to sleep tonite.

I had a BADDDD tooth ache about a year ago and ended up with the same proscriptions. I found that if I took a childs chewable aspirin and let it dissolve slowly against the tooth it would knock the pain down long enough for me to get to sleep. I also used teething medicine for the gum pain...

When I had something similar prior to my root canal I alternated the T3's every 4 hours and in between I took 800MG of Motrin. So.. 1PM T3, 3PM Motrin, 5PM T3, 7PM Motrin... and so on and so forth.

Good luck!
Mike D.

I would definitely be careful about too much acetaminophen. MAX daily dose for an average adult shouldn't exceed 4000 mg (that's 2 500-mg tablets every 6 hour) per manufacturer recomendations. ( I remember it being a little higher than that, but I wouldn't push your luck) At that dose you could take 3 tablets every 6hours and not exceed the max dose. This doesn't help much though because doses higher than 60 mg of codeine only increase side effects with little increased pain relief.
A better option is to take ibuprofen(Advil, Motrin)along with the Tylenol 3. It has antiinflammatory properties that Tylenol doesn't have. A lot of that type of pain is from swelling due to inflammation. You can take this along with the Tylenol since they are different drug classes. We often recommend alternating these drugs in children whose fever won't break to avoid too much of either drug. A dose of 400-800mg every 8 hours is a good antiinflammatory dose. Don't exceed 3200 mg a day.
I would take your Tylenol 3 as prescribed but add in ibuprofen as well. Start at 400 mg of ibuprofen and increase the dose if needed up to 800mg every 8 hours.
That help?

Oh yeah, if that doesn't help, call your dentist back. He may give you something a little stronger. All he can say is no.

If you don't have a friend who can hand you some percocets (sp?), well.....you should.

Most of us have friends like that. Think about it and make some calls.


Sorry about your pain.

if you can get your hands on some Ambien or Lunesta, it will allow you to get 8 hours of uninterupted sleep, and you will able to wake up with a clear head from it...I used it overseas when I had to reset my body clock...pretty good stuff

Call them. Get a new script for somrthing stronger. Been there - it aint fun.

M

I just went out and picked up some generic Ibuprofen 200mg. Hopefully 2 of them in between the T3 will do the trick.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Percocet or Percodan would be good.

Don't forget to take the Amoxicillin!.. you want the infection to get knocked down as soon as possible, and not get worse than it already is (you do not want a jawbone infection, bro). It may take a day or two for the Amoxicillin to get the upper hand on the infection, but there is nothing better. Don't forget to take it.. and be sure to take all of it.

Sorry you're going through this..

Tooth pain sucks a$$ big time! BTDT one too many times...
Instead of looking for a heavier prescription, go find a dentist that will pull the darn thing outta yer mouth on the spot
It's rediculous your dentist is making you wait for so long

damn, the ibuprofen must work well. It hasn't been too long and the pain has subsided quite a bit.

No prob on the antibiotics, I'll definitely finish 'em off.

Sean why didnt you get this taken care of when you posted originally?

damn the other thread eveyone told you to get to the dentist

cause I'm a dumbass

sorry bud.. just medicate till you get it taken care of

QUOTE (Jeroen @ Dec 13 2005, 06:05 PM)

Tooth pain sucks a$$ big time! BTDT one too many times... Instead of looking for a heavier prescription, go find a dentist that will pull the darn thing outta yer mouth on the spot It's rediculous your dentist is making you wait for so long

Actually,
The dentist is following standard procedure. You must first lower the infection with the antibiotics. This is done so the local anesthetic will work properly and effectively. Would you like to try to have it extracted without having sufficient anesthesia? I don't think so. The acids produced by the bacteria causing the infection will counteract the anesthetic causing it to be less effective.
Using the ibuprofen along with the Tylenol #3 will work effectively. The antibiotics will take 24-36 hours to take effect and then you shouldn't need much if any pain med.
As was said before if your pain does not subside in 24-36 hours you should contact the DDS you visited.

This reminds me of the time I had an infected tooth that needed a root canal. I had Tylenol and Codine which did nothing with the pain either. No way I could get any sleep.

Since it was the time of my young and not so smart days, and I was going out of my frigg'n mind, I poured about a half tumbler of Vodka, popped two more T&Cs and guzzled. I am pretty sure I was asleep within minutes and lucky to have woken up.

Needless to say the above is not a recomendation in any way. Hope you feel better.

-Jeff

Vicodin So you can be numb medicine

Vicodin is nothing more than synthetic codiene.
Ty #3 is just a combination of codiene and tylenol.

QUOTE (Dan (Almaden Valley) @ Dec 14 2005, 03:19 AM)

This is done so the local anesthetic will work properly and effectively. Would you like to try to have it extracted without having sufficient anesthesia? I don't think so.

Well... actually... yes! But I guess that's just me...

I really respond bad to anesthetics, so unless I really have to, I have this stuff done without any

Pulling teeth isn't really that painfull. Once the root breaks, the pain is gone. And the short moment before that is nothing compared to the hours/days of toothache (which will drive you up the walls)

Hang in there Sean, hope the meds kick in and you can get this fixed real soon...

I don't know how they extract teeth in the Netherlands, but in the U.S. we try not to "break" the roots. That makes the procedure of doing the extraction much more technique intense. Incision, bone removal, sutures, etc.
there are not many folks out there that want to have a tooth extracted with out anesthesia. Do they strap you down to the chair so you don't move abruptly or cause yourself more pain and suffering?

I feel for you man...+Karma your way QUICK


My brother had a major accident, costing him most of his teeth and some bone....lots of dental work. He developed a resistance to freezing...imagine...

Painful topic but realy cool it can be posted in a car club, and to get professional advice to boot....priceless.

Later

QUOTE (Dan (Almaden Valley) @ Dec 14 2005, 04:13 AM)

I don't know how they extract teeth in the Netherlands, but in the U.S. we try not to "break" the roots.

You're right... I expressed it wrong.
What I meant was the root breaking free from the jaw, not the tooth breaking off the root (BTDT too, no fun )

I just went thru the same thing bud and still have the suture in my head. My sympathy goes out to you.


*And why when this happens does it start on a Sat night.....

Damn Sean, I wish I'd seen this last night. I hope you are feeling better. If you are feeling better with the ibuprofin and acetaminophen and codiene phosphate keep taking it on schedule. You don't want to have to climb the same mountain again. Take both meds with plenty of food. Ibuprofin is tough on the stomach and codiene can cause intestinal cramping but, both things are helped with food.

Amoxicillin will take 24 to 48 hrs to see much improvement from it so you still have a wait there.

If you start to swell into your cheek call the guy back right away even if it is on the weekend. Infections in that area can be serious. Amoxicillin is a great drug but, there are bugs that maybe unaffected by it. If it does get better don't miss the next appointment, get it taken care of.

If you are going to use a local anesthetic for the extraction see if he will use a drug called Articaine (Septocaine). The stuff is great. The guy will probably think you are nuts asking for a particular drug but, just say your cousin is a dentist in Washington and that will explain your request.

Good luck

Dave

Well, that was THE WORST night I've ever had. It started out well enough. Shortly after I took the ibuprofen I decided I should eat a little something. Well, things just went downhill from there. After I was done eating the pain came back and absolutely would not go away. When it was time for the next Tylenol 3 I took 2 and went ahead and took 200mg more ibuprofen. The pain just wouldn't go away. I did, however, get a horrible stomach ache. I wished I could vomit, but couldn't. The only respite from the pain had been coming from me sucking on a bit of water. I did that for several hours and decided that I might try ginger ale, to help with the stomach wierdness. After 4 ginger ales and 3 gallons of water I am totally bloated and haven't slept a wink. I'm also worried about taking anymore pills because I don't want to feel like that again. I can't eat either. This really sucks. I wish I would have listened to Dave a year ago and got this thing fixed then.

The only good news is that the tooth is gonna be removed at 12:45 tomorrow. I just hope I can make it til then.

SCREW THE DRUGS, TRY ALCOHOL, IF YOU KNOW YOUR LIMIT SO YOU DO NOT GET SICK , JUST DO A LITTLE DRINKING AND PUT YOURSELF TO SLEEP.

a year ago? wow! tooth decay, like rust, nevers sleeps. having a little bottle of clove oil handy got me through a few bad experiences back in the day.

k

You may want to try some ambesol(sp) or oral gel. I had the same thing happen about 8 years ago. Tooth broke off, didnt get it taken care of. I used ambesol when it got really bad, and then took some alieve as the ambesol was takening effect.

No ....ing alcohol. It's additive with the codiene and can depress respiration. Sean, call the dentist he can get you better meds. Have someone drive you. He'll need to write the script. Demerol 50- 75 mg would be a good choice but don't ask for it cause he'll think you are a druggie.

Dave

a hangover AND a killer toothache. great combo!!

k

QUOTE (rhodyguy @ Dec 14 2005, 09:11 AM)

a hangover AND a killer toothache. great combo!! k

sounds fun.


get morphine

As the post is getting a little too medical, I thought I best chime in. My brother is an internal medicine specialist, and an anesthesiologist (double boarded, yep). I've spent the past 25 years practicing veterinary medicine, and my cousin is a pharmacist, so I want to pass this advice.

Do not mix medications as are being recommeded. They all can have serious side effects, some fatal. Mixing Tylenol with alcohol can kill your liver after only a single episode! It's the second leading cause of liver transplants, but rarely talked about. No one knows why this can happen, it's just unknown reaction in some people.

Perhaps the best advice is take care of your teeth, and please follow your doctor's instructions.

Doesn't drinking alcohol cancel out the effectiveness of antibiotics also? or is that just and old wives tale?

Oh Shit...

[Do not mix medications as are being recommeded. They all can have serious side effects, some fatal. ]

I knew a guy in high school that popped his moms Valium, chased with a beer. Bet he felt no pain...

Dude you OK? I realy hope you have time off from pain.

Sending more +Karma

I just woke up from 4 hours of bliss! The dentist recomended that I up the Ibuprofen to 800mg. That seems to have helped. I'm trying to get a bit of food in me, so I won't have the nasuea that I had last night

I bet it was the chocolate malted milkshakes that finally put him over the top.




John

P.S. Wishing you wellness.

Tylenol will bag your liver, be careful with it. There are a ton of dead rock stars that were done in by booze and narcotics mixed, try not to kill yourself. If you take ibuprofen 600 mg every 4 hours, and the narcotic pain medication as directed every four hours, and time it so you are taking someting every 2 hours, you will get better pain control. Keeping it from hurting is more effective than trying to stop it from hurting. An ice pack on a bad tooth is also often very helpful. There are a lot of topical anesthetics that will give you short term relief as well. If it is painful due to an exposed nerve, which is likely, you can get stuff that is sort of like clay that will protect the nerve.

tooth removed. Damn guy was fast! Once given the numbing shot (what is that stuff Dave?) I was in immediate relief. The extraction was done in a jiffy. It was less than an hour from when I walked in the door til I walked out the door and was done for the bargain price of $88. New meds are Vicidin, so far so good.

The best parts were:
1. After the numbing shot I was so relieved that I almost fell asleep right there in the chair!
2. When I got home I was able to sleep for 2 hours. I can't wait to see what sleeping for a night will be like

Glad you are better, now go take a nap


John

P.S. Or you could count sheep....

Glad to hear that's taken care of!!!
Now go get some sleep

Ok but what's next? Do they put something back in the hole to keep your teeth from spreading apart or what?

Glad you got relief. Sleep a big sleep.

Glad you're feeling better Sean. Get some sleep and follow the instructions you got.

Jon

Maybe they'll put something in there and maybe they won't. It depends on a lot of stuff like which tooth he lost, how the teeth come together, what the other teeth are like, how the bone is. It is all a big trade off. Mostly trading Sean's money for the dentist's little bag of tricks.

Dave

nothing to fill the hole. The now missing tooth is the farthest back upper left (from my perspective) molar. I'll just have to deal with a little less crunching power. It came out so well that I didn't need any stitches and, it's been over 9 hours since my last pain pill. I hope to be done with that stuff

hmmm,

Interesting comments so far.

Let us know how it goes.

Tony

Likely local anesthetic was lidocaine with epinephrine(AKA adrenaline) Epi is vasoconstirctor, so there is less bleeding and the anesthetic effect is longer lasting. Marcaine is another local anesthetic that is VERY long lasting, but takes longer to work. Sounds like you need some bridgework

Articaine with epinephine 1/100,000 is another local that is gaining popularity with dentists. It's a great drug and diffuses through bone better than lidocaine so you can be less precise and still get good results. AKA it's more dependable than lidocaine.

Sean says it's the last tooth on the top so replacement is either with an implant or a removable partial denture (junk). If he still has a 6 year mollar it mabe best to leave it alone. I've already said too much. It's best left between him and his dentist.

Dave