Abscessed Tooth

Gigazombie Cybermage

So, they flare up every now and again because I can't afford to go to the dentist. They all need to extracting (planning on getting dentures). These things are so painful they make functioning normally a chore, and forget about concentrating on my homework. I've been eating ibuprofen and extra strength tylenol like candy, but it's making my stomach upset. Is there anyway I can sooth this? The medicine barely takes the edge off, at least the ibuprofen helps my face swelling a little. It gets so bad that I'm considering self-extracting the damn things. Can an abscess kill you? When's the danger point at which I should go to the emergency room?

dispatch.o

Yes they can actually. I wouldn't worry about it as much as a jawline infection that makes you seriously ill for an extended period of time.

Get them extracted, do not do it yourself as there's a substantial blood supply that goes to some teeth. Find a dentist who will let you make payments, they do exist.

godmode

Yes, tooth abscesses are not something to mess around with. It is quite critical that you see a physician as soon as possible. Even if you have given up on saving the teeth themselves, there's substantial risk of infection spreading to other parts of your mouth, your jaw, or even your brain.

Gigazombie Cybermage

Unfortunately, going to the dentist is out of the question. The free clinic I go to (I'm a full time student) has already gotten 2 teeth extracted for me, but they can't help any more. (2 is the max) And no, no dentist around here will accept payments.

godmode

Is there any family or something you can turn to for assistance? If the infection takes hold and gets worse, you're facing potentially life-threatening complications. I suppose at that point, an emergency room would not be allowed to turn you away, but you should not wait that long.

Nibble

Do schools have on-campus health centers for students in the US? You could probably at least get some antibiotics there.

LaOs

If there's actually a dental college anywhere near you, they could help you at reduced rates (and would likely be willing to work with some sort of payment plan).

Daxon

Imma be super clear on this:

an abscess, anywhere, is a medical emergency.

The infection is going to spread from your teeth into your facial and jaw bones and you could end up having to have to remove half of your face.

Gigazombie Cybermage

Well, it usually ends up alright. I've had several dozens of infections this year. I might be able to go to the free clinic and get some antibiotics. The only time I really get worried is when my face baloons and I look like the elephant man. Though it always swells a little bit. Is it normal for other teeth on the same side to abscess at the same time as the original one? Oh, I also learned the hard way not to press on the swelling tissue a while back, I woke up the next morning, and although it hurt a hell of a lot less, I looked like the afore mentioned elephant man.

dispatch.o

Gigazombie Cybermage wrote:

Well, it usually ends up alright. I've had several dozens of infections this year. I might be able to go to the free clinic and get some antibiotics. The only time I really get worried is when my face baloons and I look like the elephant man. Though it always swells a little bit. Is it normal for other teeth on the same side to abscess at the same time as the original one? Oh, I also learned the hard way not to press on the swelling tissue a while back, I woke up the next morning, and although it hurt a hell of a lot less, I looked like the afore mentioned elephant man.

You need a doctor. Period. End of advice.

Yes, you can ruin your liver with tylenol and ibuprofen. No, there's nothing you can do to fix this.

Go to a doctor or clinic. Or just walk into an ER when it swells up and there will be an on call surgeon who will probably be able to refer you somewhere cheaper.

Skoal Cat

i find it hard to believe that no dentist will take payments.

Gigazombie Cybermage

Some will, but they have to run a credit check. I won't qualify because I have bad credit.

Artereis

Does your school not offer you health insurance? I always had the opportunity to buy in when I was in college.

Gigazombie Cybermage

Nope. I'm going to a small community college. Even if it did, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

TehSpectre

So, stop going to college and use your tuition money to not die.

You could very well die.

Where are your parents. How can you afford school?

Christ man, go to the dentist.


Edit: Also, what the hell are you eating that you have these mouth problems?

Derrick

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022702116.html

Yes, this will kill you. It's like $80 for a tooth removal. If you can afford school, you can afford to live.

Gigazombie Cybermage

I'm going through college on nothing more than pell grants, loans, and hopefully scholarships since I have a respectable GPA. I live alone with my disabled father, so the only thing he helps me with is making sure I have a place to sleep and I don't starve to death. ;P As for why my mouth is in this shape, I have a 6 pack of soda a day habit and always been too poor to go to the dentist, now I have a mouthful of carrion teeth that abscess everynow and again. I usually just ignore the pain until it goes away. If the pain weren't so excrutiating I would be used to it by now. Fortunately, I don't actually eat a lot of sweets, or smoke, or dip tobacco.

For reals, I come from the poorest of the poor. The only reason I even have the internet is because I need it to do my schoolwork on, because making extra trips to the college uses too much gas up. Actually, come to think of it... We're on E right now, so I have no idea how I'm getting to college this week.

Gigazombie Cybermage

Derrick wrote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022702116.html

Yes, this will kill you. It's like $80 for a tooth removal. If you can afford school, you can afford to live.

That sucks. Hopefully since I'm older my body's used to fighting that nastiness in the infected teeth. That's what I'll tell myself, anyways. There's honestly not much I can do.

Tox

You're a silly goose. You need to go to an emergency room. You are going to die.

Any action you take that indicates anything other than an attempt at compliance (such as, you know, going to the hospital vs not...going to the hospital) is either gross negligence or gross incompetence on your part.

Go to the emergency room, get your face fixed. Quit being a miserable human being.

TehSpectre

Seriously.

You can afford to drink a 6 pack of pop a day but not get your teeth fixed.

You are gonna die.

GO TO THE DENTIST OR A HOSPITAL

Gigazombie Cybermage

If it weren't for food stamps I wouldn't be getting any soda. I can't go to the dentist because I don't have any money and wouldn't pass the credit check needed if I wanted to make payments. No, they won't work with me. I think I might be able to convince the free clinic here to give me some antibiotics though. That'll work for now, it always has before.

E.Coyote

I had one when I was a kid, the side of my face swelled to the size of a softball and I was drinking chicken noodle soup through a straw because I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to eat. The swelling happened really quickly. Get to a doctor asap.

dispatch.o

Gigazombie Cybermage wrote:

If it weren't for food stamps I wouldn't be getting any soda. I can't go to the dentist because I don't have any money and wouldn't pass the credit check needed if I wanted to make payments. No, they won't work with me. I think I might be able to convince the free clinic here to give me some antibiotics though. That'll work for now, it always has before.

This is goosery. Stop drinking soda, go to a doctor. The internets aren't going to make your teeth better, and antibiotics wont work for long. The flippant attitude sort of makes you come across as not actually wanting advice.

Phasen

Your steam profile being in your signature and you talking about not having the money to do this is disconcerting. Get your priorities in order.

Siska

Look up nearby dental schools. I had 2 wisdom teeth pulled at one for about $180. My sister in law had a root canal done for less than $100 at the same place. They are the cheapish alternative.

Organichu

i am also on food stamps. i presume, since you require governmental assistance (as i do) that it's difficult to meet your minimum needs- beyond medical care.

stop drinking soda.

your finances can't bear it, and apparently your teeth cannot, either.

start brushing now. i never brushed my teeth as a child. i went probably 5 years without a single brushing (and this was after some of my adult teeth came in). then about 10 years ago i realized i was being a moron, and i've since brushed twice a day for a decade and my teeth are great.

stop drinking soda. start brushing your teeth.

and borrow money from someone and go to a dentist.

also look at applying for medical coverage for which you may qualify if you qualify for food stamps.

Donkey Kong

Please do not let yourself die. If you are poor as you say, you absolutely should qualify for government assistance that will cover your festering mouth.

And jesus christ, stop drinking soda and brush yo teef. You can have a low self-esteem pity party about how you don't want to care for yourself later, when you're not in mortal danger.

Gabriel_Pitt

Gigazombie Cybermage wrote:

Derrick wrote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022702116.html

Yes, this will kill you. It's like $80 for a tooth removal. If you can afford school, you can afford to live.

That sucks. Hopefully since I'm older my body's used to fighting that nastiness in the infected teeth. That's what I'll tell myself, anyways. There's honestly not much I can do.

Which is a complete load of bullshit. You can go to the dentist and get the teeth extracted. Based on your responses here, I'm not sure how much effort you're actually putting into finding a solution, given that you're not even trying to find a dentist, just saying, 'well I know they'll say no.'

Donkey Kong

That's true too. Dentists do pro bono work for people who are super poor and have life threatening conditions. Get a list of phone numbers and START CALLING BEFORE YOU FUCKING DIE.

Even if they say no, start asking what you can do. The people on the other end will be sympathetic, they will have contacts. You'll get the help you need eventually.

MushroomStick

Just go to the emergency room. If you're really as poor as you say you are, there are forms the hospital can have you fill out to have the bills written off. Abscesses aren't the kind of thing you can walk off.

noir_blood

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/insurance-24-year-dies-toothache/story?id=14438171

Maybe if we post enough of this type of stories, you'll go to a dentist.

Seriously man, I can barely fanthom your financial situation-I'm luckier than you in the money front, but I still dealt with bad teeth and lack of visiting a dentist because "I couldn't afford it". It was stuff like that maybe rethink it.

Please go. Talk to your family/friends..do SOMETHING. Unless you're Wolverine, your body can't heal everything.

Six

Gigazombie Cybermage wrote:

Can an abscess kill you? When's the danger point at which I should go to the emergency room?

Yes.

Now.

billwill

Why are you refusing to go and get this fixed, OP?

There is always a way. Beg on the streets if you have to. Get a job at a fast food place. Get a loan from on of your friends. There is always a way.

SERIOUSLY. YOU ARE BEING A SILLY GOOSE AND YOU ARE RISKING YOUR LIFE. Go get help!

Gigazombie Cybermage

Phasen wrote:

Your steam profile being in your signature and you talking about not having the money to do this is disconcerting. Get your priorities in order.

First off, just because I was gifted a game, or have a bunch of cheap ones, doesn't mean my priorities are out of order. You're talking to a guy that sold his DS, his PSP, PS2, a freaking top-loader NES, a SNES, and all the games that I had for them just a couple of months ago so that we could eat. You have no idea how hard that was for me. I've been collecting this shit since I was 3. It's a huge part of my identity.

I took a nap earlier and woke up with the swelling considerably worse. I was hoping it would go away like it usually does. Tomorrow I'm going to take off school and go to the free clinic nearby. To be honest, I had no idea a bad toothache could be so serious. I mean, I had always heard that it's bad for your heart among other things, but that it'll actually kill me is hard to wrap my head around. Other than the maddeningly, excrutiating pain, and pressure from the swelling I feel fine!

...But yeah, doctor, tomorrow.

Skoal Cat

The free clinic isn't going to pull your teeth. Go to the emergency room or a dentist that you've spoken to ahead of time.

Beren39

Holy crap, if that thing ruptures you could be facing potential toxic shock with accompanying bad shit such as renal failure and death. Do yourself a favour and go to the emergency room, it doesn't matter how bad your financial situation is this is actual life or death. Do it, antibiotics are not going to solve this problem, the area needs to be lanced and packed. Please do not sleep on this. This is not the time for flippancy.

Nappuccino

Goddamn man. Get the surgery. So maybe you have to keep some necessities to a minimum afterwards- it will sure as hell beat being dead.

Also- listen to Organichu

Stop drinking soda. Brush your teeth.

If you're that financially strapped, you don't need more problems with your teeth in the future.

Gigazombie Cybermage

It's a bit late for that. All of my teeth are carrion. I have to get them all extracted. Some are actually broken off under the gumline, and I have wisdom tooth grown in wrong, so I'll need an oral surgeon. Fun!

billwill

To be honest your entire attitude about this is a little disconcerting.

If I had over a dozen people tell me that if I didn't get help soon I'd die, I'd be in the emergency room faster than you can say [insert word here], regardless of my financial situation.

You seem so... apathetic, almost. Like you're observing this happening to someone else and not to you.

Go get help, man. Seriously. Stop brushing us off. Get the damn help.

godmode

Indeed. It's a little worrying, GC. I feel for you in your situation, I really do. But there are resources at your disposal. If nothing else, go to the school clinic like you already have, and ask them directly what you need to do and who you need to talk for the help you need in your situation. There is someone.

Lucid

I don't understand how you even let your teeth get this way. I had a root canal done recently, and the pain beforehand was unbearable. I was already looking after my teeth and had regular dentist visits, but even something like a minor cavity can balloon.

Being poor doesn't mean you have to make terrible decisions like drinking soda so much. Really, listen to everyone who has posted.