Tooth Infection! (Follow-Up)

So it has been officially 4 days since I've started my antibiotics and had my tooth extraction. The past four days have been, dreadful but not miserable. It could be worse, I could be stuck with my toothache. During the last four days, I decided to look up more information about my infection. Mainly because I thought the swelling was a little alarming and I wanted to find home remedies to help with it.

So in my Google-ing finds, I had what they call an dental abscess. It's when a tooth infection pretty much spreads to soft tissue, including the face, jaw and throat. Pus collects at the sites of the infection which causes the swelling. I guess back in the day, people use to die from untreated dental infections because it just continues to spread. Then it got me thinking. Oh my god, I have pus stuck in my face, jawline and down my neck. That's why the swelling hasn't subsided!

Luckily, my swelling has gone down quite a bit since then but I still have this hard swollen part right along  the jawline. Inside my mouth, it also feels like I have sores where the local anesthesia was administered. I'm not sure if that is common. I tried to stick my finger back there and usually I can fit my finger behind my top far back molar but there appears to be some sort of lump? Now that the swelling has gone away I can open my jaw wider, but what's really bothering me now is this lump in the back along with these sores. It feels like cankersores and it hurts when I open and close my mouth. It feels like I'm irritating it. My gums also kind of has this weird itchy/sore feeling. It's the kind of feeling you get when you're young and your tooth is about to fall out and it kind of has this tingling itch to it. Makes you want to wiggle your tooth lose. I'm still unable to eat on the left side of my mouth because my teeth and gums are sensitive. I'm guessing it's because of the swelling and infection that is still there. Man, whatever is going on in the back of my mouth is the really annoying part right now.

When I had braces in my younger days, the wire in the back would become too long and kind of scrape and cut at the back of my mouth. That's what this feels like. Some sort of sore or cuts in the very back and when I bite down it feels like I'm biting down on the skin inside the back of my mouth!

Anyways, this is a pretty gross blog I know. For those who have gone through this before..you share my pain. For those that haven't, I wish this on NO ONE. Maybe this will gross you out enough to go take care of your teeth or that tooth that has been bothering you for a while now but you've been putting off.

I found that sleeping on it makes it worse. I would wake up really sore. The dentist told me to throw a damp towel in the microwave for 15 seconds and put it on my cheek. It did relieve it for a bit. I only tried it starting yesterday. I can't WAIT til I can eat again. I think that has been one of the most dreadful things all week. Not being able to enjoy food. Being pregnant and hungry is not a good mixture as well. It's so painful to eat, that it just makes you not want to!

I gotta go back next Wednesday to get my stitches out. I'm hoping that'done without local anesthesia..

I took pictures of myself to see how drastic the swelling had gone down. First picture is the day after the extraction..