I have a tooth infection in one of my teeth. My dentist can’t actually treat it for three weeks. He wrote a prescription of antibiotics and told me not to take them until the week of my appointment. I recently read that a tooth infection can spread to your brain and kill you, but my dentist blew me off. Should I be worried?

Caitlin

Dear Caitlin,

While it is true that a tooth infection can spread to your brain, based on your dentist’s comments, I don’t think you will have to worry about that. If the infection is just in the beginning stages, you are likely safe to wait for the procedure. Some infections move quite slow. If you are concerned, you have a couple of options.

First, you can wait for your appointment but ask your dentist to write you enough antibiotics to get you through to the procedure starting now. He shouldn’t have a problem with that.

If he does, your second option is to find a different dentist who can see you and do the procedure in a more timely manner. There are dentists who will treat non-established patients in cases like yours when there is a tooth infection involved or some other type of dental emergency.

One thing I don’t like is that your dentist just blew off your concerns. A good dentist takes the concerns of his patients seriously, even if he thinks they are silly. Rather than just ignoring the concern, it is far better to help the patient understand.

Let’s say you decide to just wait and follow your dentist’s original plan. If you develop a fever or the pain worsens, then you will want to go back in and be re-evaluated. Sometimes an infection will suddenly take off.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentist Drs. Drake and Wallace.