abcess again, or worse, please look!! - Dental Health Message Board

double0bondo · 07-29-2002, 04:22 PM

i have a question, about 2 months ago, i bite down on some food and broke half of a molar out, then about a month ago, i beleive it got infected, it swelled really bad, almost golf ball size, the lump was between the bad tooth and inner cheek, i waited for 4 days to go to the er, and they gave me anitbiotics, i tokk them for 5 full days with no result, didnt get bigger, but certainly didnt get smaller, so i called a dentist and he saw me for a few minutes, and said, it could take sometime for the meds to work, then i did somemore investigation online, and it seems that the anitbiotics should have taken hold in 2-3 days...right? anyhow, finally on the 9th day of anti's, there was a change...it puffed even more in the matter of 3 hours, then poof...it burst, and it drained quickly...it was such an awful taste, but the pain was immedatlly releived, later that day, i w2ould say the lump decreased to the size of a pea, with no pain...i thought i was home free, wait a few weeks and have it pulled, but, now 4 weeks later, its sweeled again!!! no paint this time though. my question is, because it took 9 days to start working, and my antibiotics were only for 10 days, is this the reason its back?? will they give me more antis, or maybe better ones, stronger, i was on 500mg v-tids or something like that, does this sound normal, or could it be a cyst, or even a tumor, im so worried about it, the inner lining of my mouth looks ok, aside from lite reddining of the lump, is this sound like mouth cancer, im almost scared to go to the doctors, ive been looking online, and it seems like cancer is of the visual tissue in the mouth, am i worring too much, or is this an abcess that never had a chance to heal...PLEASE help, im very worried, thanks!!

LibraryLynn · 07-29-2002, 07:35 PM

My experience with an abscess after wisdom teeth removal was sort of similar. I had indication of an infection on day 3 after the extraction, so the oral surgeon gave me Clindamyacin (antibiotic). I took that for seven days, but on the day after I stopped antibiotics, I got a walnut sized lump in my cheek. It was hard and it hurt, but not unbelievably. I called and they said to call them back if it got bigger. The next day it proceeded to get bigger throughout the day, so I called and they saw me right away. The ended up having to physically drain the abscess. Not pleasant, but it sure made it stop hurting. The oral surgeon told me that sometimes the abscesses don't clear with antibiotics, and it's necessary to drain them. After mine was drained, I took antibiotics again for seven more days, and the swelling went down markedly, and I finally healed up.

I'd suggest you see your dentist again. It sounds like your abscess isn't getting better on just the antibiotics. I'm not a doctor, but that was my experience anyway.

Take care of yourself!
Lynn