On Feb 24 I had two teeth on the lower right side preped for a bridge. The teeth were prepared and temporary crowns put on. I had pain durng the freezing and needed extra to copletly stop an pain during treatment. Once the freezing came out I was in such pain I went to a pharmacy and got tylenol. The pain would not stop and I noticed a bump on the gum behind the last tooth on lower right... the one he had worked on. It is extremely painful. I went to dentist today March 1 and he said that food had probably gotten under the temp crown and he would flush the area as there was probably some bacteria causing the pain. I told him the pain started before I had eaten anything. The stuff he used was the most horrible tasting stuff and some ran down my throat and burned! He took an x-ray and said the tooth looked fine, just rince with salt water or with the stuff he prescribed. If I don't take the tylenol regularly the pain is unbearable, it woke me tonight and that is why I ended up on this web site. I am afraid of the possibilites after reading some of the stories of dental pain never going away. What am I dealing with?

If your dentist took an x-ray he has ruled out an abscess. Continue rinsing with warm water and salt, do that as many times throughout the day as possible. Alternate Tylenol and Advil every 2 hours, you will find the pain should completely disappear but continue with the salt water rinses until you go back to have the permanent bridge cemented.
When you bite does it feel as though your teeth touch on the right first? If that's the case you might need to have the temps adjusted.

Thanks very much for your reply. My teeth don't seem to meet at that point and I think they meet at the left first. Apparently I have a piece of gum tissue that is almost on top of the tooth and the dentist said while they were working he had to push it out of the way. When I use the syringe he gave me to rinse with the salt water... it hurts so much I can hardly take it. It feels like all the teeth on the bottom right are being drilled without anesthetic. I am afraid to eat and when I plan to rinse I get so uptight because I know what pain is coming. I shall try the alternate pain relief and see if that helps.

Be gentle when you are using the syringe. Slowly push down on the plunger don't do it in one quick flush. You may also want to point the syringe perpendicular to the gum and not in to the gum.

Hello again... the pain never went away even though the swelling did. The temp crown on the back tooth popped off just before my supper! I got in to see the dentist the next afternoon to have it put back on and since the bridge was ready, he attached it. He thought the pain was from saliva or food getting under it and once the new piece was cemented in the pain would go. NO SUCH THING! I am still taking pain pills every 4 hours or so. I don't want to over do it, but again tonight the pain was bad enough to wake me. What do you think is happening?

Has your dentist ruled out a cracked root? He shouldn't have cemented the bridge in permanently until your pain was controlled. I'd suggest you go see an endodontist and have him/her check to see if a root canal is necessary.

After reading your complains and the Users comments. I think you might have gangrene in the tooth, so you should see an endodontist to check it out

I'm not a dentist, but my dentist said once that not all abscesses can be detected in an X-ray.

Hey man I have a similar problem... unbearable pain and headache that cripples me... I am taking Ibu-prufin 400 every 7-8 hourse and rincing my moth twice a day with a special dental antibacterial mouth rince that does not burn. It going now since 3 weeks and it scares me that I am so dependent on pain killers.

My dentist did four bridges!!

The next appointment is in two weeks... what the **** is going on!!