Any dentists or dental professionals, please help?

i have a problem with my teeth, numbers 4%26amp;5 i believe. number 5 i had a root canal on several years ago, but never crowned it %26amp; it started to decay so my dentist put a filling in it to "tide me over". last year # 4 started to hurt badly and he sent me to an endodlogist who took xrays and said that the filling was really close to the nerve, but didn't mention that there was any abscess-and offered to do a root canal. I don't have dental insurance to pay for a root canal and 2 crowns, so i was going to get a partial, but my dentist wouldn't pull them because he said i was too young to be missing so many teeth. i woke up this morning and my gums and cheek are swollen around that area and it is very painful to bite down and chew-i can only assume that it is an abscess on # 4 i do have antibiotics-because i know that they won't perform anything until the infection is cured, but what should i do once it goes away? bridge, partial, or take out a loan for the root canal %26amp; crowns? thanks!

Any dentists or dental professionals, please help?
As a dentist myself it sounds like you have a very serious problem on your hands. Most likely you do have an abscess, although we usually like to treat these teeth after antibiotics have had time to start working you might want to consider calling your regular dentist (or a new dentist) for an emergency appointment- you will still need to be placed on antibiotic therapy, but if the tooth needs to be extracted then your dentist might want go ahead and pull the tooth immediately (depending on how bad the situation is). For your situation it sounds like you might need a new dentist, we do usually like for a person to keep as many natural teeth as possible, but sometimes finances etc play a big part in the decision and your dentist should listen to YOU and how you are feeling. If you can't get an appointment with your dentist then you might should consider a trip to your local ER until you can see him/her, this way the ER physician will be able to begin you on antibiotics until you can been seen by your dentist. Until then try taking Motrin (ibuprofen) for pain, this will help reduce and swelling and will also help relieve pain. Also use cold compresses, NEVER use hot/warm compresses as this can cause a possible infection to worsen and spread more rapidly. Good luck and PLEASE see a dentist or ER doctor as soon as possible as an abscess is a very serious and possibly life threatening condition if not treated.
Reply:Sounds too late for the crowns. You're right, you do need antibiotics, but you need to be seen by a dentist to know how serious the infection is first and what strength of med you need because of it. Don't self-medicate. That can be dangerous.
Reply:Well, no one has answered you yet, and I'm not a professional, but I'll answer by experience. First, start the antibiotics. I hate that kind of pain. Second, see if your dentist has a payment plan for expensive procedures like these that your talking about. I think that the cheapest way to go would be to get root canals, but I don't think that you need crowns. I would talk to the dentist about it. I've had 2 root canals, and I don't have crowns.. If he wont take payments, then try to find a dentist that will. Why take out a loan and have interest added on to an already expensive procedure??? Good luck with this, and I hope you feel better soon.
Reply:If you can, get the loan to save these teeth. You won't be happy with a partial; you'll get food underneath it and they don't always look natural. See if you are a canidate for Care Credit, which is a credit card by can only be used for dental/medical purposes. Good luck!


http://www.carecredit.com/
Reply:I am a dental assistant and I would save the tooth and do a root canal and a crown if you think that is something that you can afford. You do need to take antibiotics to get the infection and swelling to go down. Particals are not very functional. It is hard to eat with them. They are really only for looks. Any time you have a root canal done it is best to put a crown on the tooth because after removing the nerve of the tooth it becomes very brittle and it makes it easier for the tooth to break.
Reply:It looks like you have addressed the first portion of your question as far as getting on the antibiotics and getting a root canal.





The question you have regarding getting veneers...well, that isn't an option for back teeth and many times not for front teeth, especially if they have had root canals. A full crown is needed to provide strength to the tooth. I know it doesn't seem possible to be able to put a crown on a tooth like yours, but they can.





I would encourage you to keep as many of your teeth as possible. It took me several years to convince my own mother, but she eventually chose to have root canals/crowns when needed rather than having the teeth pulled.





You might want to think about how much you enjoy eating and chewing food or talk to some people who have partials or dentures.





I think this would be a good time for you to step up your oral hygiene too. As you now know, it is less costly to purchase toothpaste, toothbrush, and floss than to have to endure the physical and financial strain of dental problems.





Hope that helps...good luck.
Reply:Definately make sure you take those antibiotics- they are what take the pain away, without them, your going to be in a world of hurt. Secondly, I would splurge on the root canals and crowns. You should save the teeth that you have. You will most likely never be happy with a bridge or partial and they are just a pain in the butt! Also, just a quick add on- since you did have decay on your previous root canal, you may want to check and see if it needs to be retreated when you go in to have the other one done, this only consists of an xray, just an idea?