Rotten tooth pulled, 6days later huge painful seeming
 

Tooth was broken and rotted. Had it extracted. That was six days ago. 4 days now I've been taking amox. 500mg 2X daily.
At first the infection was minimal.
Days after extraction it became much larger.

Now it's very painful and about the size of a golf ball.
This is lower jaw, 2nd molar from the back.

It's clearly swollen up around my gum line and is pushing my check out.

I bought some small syringes and rubbing alcohol to clean them before using.

My thought was to pierce the gum near the socket of the missing tooth to drain the puss.

I don't believe I got dry socket, but I noticed today, some small amount of puss will ooze though the small near healed up hole where the tooth was.

I looked over this site to find a solid answer.

Basically I can't afford any care, I'm already on antibiotics,
I feel that draining it will help.

I haven't seen a real good reason not to poke it and drain it, but I am hesitant.

Am I on the right track here? What's the worst case scenario if I poke it w this syringe?

Thank you so much
Dave from Portland

You need to run not walk right back to the dentist that did the extraction. You don't have to take money.........

worst case is it blows out your jaw bone and there is A nerve that serves a normal purpose in that bone. you don't want that messed up EVER :eek:

Hi Dave,

You have a serious bacterial infection in your jaw bone. This is not something that you should be attempting to take care of on your own as you can worsen the infection and cause it to spread beyond the bone and into your blood stream.

This type of infection in the lower jaw can lead to a partial or complete closure of your throat because the swelling can travel down the throat. It can also cause a serious life threatening cellulitis called Ludwig's Angina.

Oral antibiotics are not going to cure this infection. You need to seek care from an oral surgeon asap. Regarding the financial aspect .... you have a serious bone infection and if you do not have this properly treated you can end up in the hospital needing an invasive drainage and surgery procedure. Not only will that be a costly $$$ adventure but you can end up in a life threatening situation.

It is in your best interest to seek care from an oral surgeon asap.

Bryanna

Thank you all for the replies.
I'm scheduling something w that dentist that extracted it.

Last night I managed to squeeze the mass and a portion of it drained out my tooth hole. Woke up this morning with less swelling.

Dave,

Please refrain from touching that infected area with your hands or anything else. Squeezing that area without properly sterilized gloves, etc. could actually contaminate the site and push the bacteria more deeply. What you may not realize is that the infection is deep in the jaw bone. Also, just as stuff can come out of the wound, bacteria can get in. The best you can do until you get in to the dentist is rinse 4 times a day with warm salt water.

Please do not wait to see an oral surgeon. An xray should be taken at that appointment to see if there is any bony fractures and/or any tooth remnants. I have seen what can happen with serious jaw bone infections, please do not wait.