Should an infection in the wisdom tooth be completely cured before its extraction?
Patient: I have been told that my wisdom tooth, which has a crown on it, has a cavity with infection and pain. I was told the tooth must be extracted. I have been prescribed a 7 day dosage of the antibiotic, amoxicillin, to clear up the infection first. This is the 3rd day of taking the prescription and the pain is still quite intense. Does my infection have to be completely cleared up before I go to an oral surgeon to have the infected tooth removed? Doctor: Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. As your wisdom tooth is having a cavity it is deep enough to cause infection and pain due to nerve irritation then taking antibiotics will clear up infection but it takes time.However, if there is associated severe pain then you need to take painkillers to reduce pain.Also if pain is so severe the crown must have been removed so that pressure is released that will also ease pain to some extent.As far as removal of tooth is concerned, the infection should be significantly reduced if not completely resolved and then extraction is done.In 7 days infection will be significantly reduced.For now to reduce pain you van take painkillers like Ibuprofen or Ketorolac.Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Honey Arora