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I have a tooth infection which is making me feel unwell

Several weeks ago I had a swollen gum , some twinging in my lower left wisdom tooth and a sore throat. It settled down after a few days but I went to my dentist to have it checked. He said it was a gum infection and offered me metronidazole. But I’ve taken this before and it made me ill so he said swish the gum with warm salty water. I did this but the infection seemed to spread to the rest of my body and I’ve been extremely ill, feeling weak, tired and depressed. I went to my doctor who gave me ampicillin which didnt help and I’m now on anti depressants. My blood tests came back normal. The wisdom tooth has more or less settled down just the odd twinge occasionaly but I can’t help feeling it still may be involved with the illnes. As soon as I can recover some energy I plan to go back to my dentist to have it pulled out (which frightens me) but I can’t think of anything else I can do to try and recover. I was just wondering if you have come across anything like this before. I’m now 63 but never had any problems with my wisdom teeth before. Thanks.

Hello
Sorry to hear you are unwell .
With dental swellings , the only effective treatment is usually antibiotics . Without them healing can be much slower
However the body does usually deal with it eventually ,
Feeling unwell is not nice , but I doubt if your dr would have put you on these for just a wisdom tooth infection , and feeling low may be co-incidental .
Sometimes when feeling low , infections can crop up as you are generally a bit low .
If you never had it before , the just check with the dentist whether this could be left to see if it stays settled down , or having it out will get rid of the problem for good .
Hope this helps
Jenny

Answer provided by: Dr Jennifer Pinder Retired
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