Abscessed teeth from no saliva - Thanks again benzos!!!!!

[[Pe...]]

Hi BBs,

Just got back from the dentist a few hour ago.  I found out my jaw swelling and pain was from an abscessed tooth due to my lack of saliva production from the benzos w/d.  I may have more than one abscess too.  The dentist is going to do a root canal Monday and take more xrays to see if other teeth may be abscessed because I am swollen up like I have mumps.

 

I brought in the info on the quinolone antibiotics and told him no Novocaine - to use carbocaine instead and he had no problem with it.  He put me on Amoxicillin.  He wanted to give me narcotics, but I said no way.

 

I am nervous about taking the antibiotic, about getting thrush or symptom worsening.  Anyone have some encouragement?

[[Cr...]]

Hello Perserverance,

 

I too am having dental issues!  Mine involves getting my wisdom teeth taken out.  Right now I have an infection in the gum around my lower right wisdom tooth and I am on 500mg of Amoxicillin.  I wouldn't be worried about taking it, you can always replenish your supply of healthy bacteria by eating yogurt and trying probiotic foods after you are done, so thrush shouldn't be too much of a concern.  I have taken 7 out of 30 pills so far and haven't run into any issues (and since Amox isn't in the quinilone class I don't think I will).

 

Just remember that letting the dental problems or infections persist may lead to much worse complications down the line.  So go ahead and get that root canal done, with carbocaine you shouldn't have to worry about getting an adrenaline surge (although you may bleed a little more than usual).  

 

All in all it sounds like the worst outcome from this procedure will be a sore mouth for a couple days.  And that should be fairly easy to someone who knows the horrors of benzo withdrawal 

 

Crono

[[Pe...]]

Thanks Crono - good to know about the additional bleeding from the carbocaine.  You may have saved me from a total freak out! =)

[[Ta...]]

From what I've read most people aren't bothered by Amoxicillin. I took Penicillin and it was fine. I agree with Crono about the yogurt. If you take probiotics, start with a small dose as I found the stronger ones do a number on your gut (runs). Remember to take them or eat the yogurt a couple hours away from when you take the antibiotic so you don't defeat the purpose. For the dry mouth, biotene mouthwash really helps and chewing xylitol gum. I use a mouthwash to keep bacteria in my mouth at bay, that has chlorine dioxide in it. It has no taste and doesn't dry your mouth out as it has no alcohol either. Swishing salt water might work as well though and would be a lot cheaper ; )

Best wishes for fast healing!

-Tanya

[[am...]]

Just remember that stomach acid kills almost all bacteria, good or bad, so if you want a probiotic you will probably need a coated one to actually make it to the intestine for absorption into the body. 

 

Probiotic foods lose their benefits when they meet stomach acid.

 

The most effective way to get any bacteria into the intestine is via the anus as a suppository.

 

 

[[Ta...]]

You know I've read that about probiotics and stomach acid before. But it doesn't mesh with my own experience. My husband and I had a lot of digestion issues and when we started to eat a yogurt a day, they all resolved within a couple weeks. I mean it seems reasonable to think that stomach acid would get rid of most of it, but it obviously (in my opinion) didn't get rid of too much of the little guys.

-Tanya

[[Pe...]]

Thanks Tanya and Amano.

 

The dentist sent me home with a ton of assorted Biotene products and I started using them asap.  I eat yogurt and take acidophilus everyday as far away from the antibiotic as I can, we were on the same page on that one Tanya!

 

Hey Amano, do they make any enteric coated pro-biotics?  The thought of doing the anal thing...well, I don't know about that.  Isn't there an easier way?