Unbearable Pain - Can't sleep

[Kuma]

I have a cavity that, admittedly, I've left untreated for a very long time. For years, It would hurt on occasion, and when it did the pain was awful. It would radiate to my head and give me an awful migrane. It would inevitably end. Sometimes it wouldn't hurt for months at a time.

Recently, the pain has ramped up to a whole new level. When it gets bad, it's almost unbearable. Every time I try to sleep, without fail, the pain will become so intense that it is impossible to sleep. Even if I'm fortunate enough to fall asleep, the pain will wake me up and prevent me from falling back to sleep.

My only choice is to take pain medicine at night, but I'm afraid my liver can only take this for so long. I have no choice though, either I risk OD'ing on pain meds, or I give up sleep entirely.

This can't wait any longer... But I've fallen into hard times lately. I've been unemployed, partly due to a severe bout of depression, partly due to gaming addiction. If there's any blessing to this pain, it's that it's been a pretty big motivation for me to get my life together so I can get this pain taken care of, but in the time it would take me to get a job, save up enough money that (most) dentists would even consider seeing me, and get into an appointment, I fear that it may be too late.

To make matters worse, I have two broken teeth on the other side of my mouth. One tooth also lost part of its filling. There's no pain on that side of my mouth unless I try to chew on it. Simultaneously, chewing on the side of my mouth with the cavity causes the toothache to flare up again.

Are there any options available to someone in my situation? I have no money to speak of and no insurance, but this is an urgent issue. Based on the severity of the pain, the tooth may or may not have abcessed, and I read that those can get very hazerdous to your health if left untreated. My biggest fear is either a spreading of infection to my heart or brain, or complications due to overuse of pain medication (the bottle warns not to take for longer than 10 days, but i need them to sleep).

Images attatched.

Image 1. is the tooth with the cavity (2nd molar to the back. not the wisdom tooth)

Image 2. is the broken teeth on the other side.


Any advice is welcome.

 

[Busybee]

You need to see a dentist. There must be some dental charity in your country or a dental school where you could be treated for free. It's important that you get this seen to because it can affect your health if you have an infection.

 

[Sonia Salamuri]

Going to a school is a good option when money is a problem, but see if there's a professor checking if it´s everything ok..., we may feel like we are in a scientific experience, but there´s always help from good professionals.

 

[Kuma]

Update:

I've tried to go to the ER to get the problem fixed, but they didn't have a dentist on staff. Nor did any of the other hospitals that i called that were nearby.

There are emergency dental clinics nearby that I thought would be a great opportunity, but at these clinics I can't even afford for them to do an X-ray, let alone have any form of treatment done.

I tried calling the dental lifeline program. Year long waitlist.

Treatment at a dental school is cheaper, but still too expensive.

It's starting to look like my only option for getting the care I need is to just suck up the pain (somehow). Find a job, despite being in so much pain at night that I can't sleep, and so much pain during the day that it would interfere with my job performance, and work long enough to earn a paycheck so that someone will at least let me in their doors.

 

[Kuma]

2nd Update:

Scratch what I just said about getting a job and suffering through it. I just woke up again after about 2 hours of sleep to a sharp main in my jaw. In that short time something happened that caused my tooth to become extremely sensitive to... anything.

Not just biting down, but even swallowing, which can create a tiny bit of pressure in my mouth, will trigger a twinge of pain. Needless to say, eating anything which requires chewing is completely out of the question.

This level of pain is with 1x ibuprofen and 2x acetaminophen currently in my system.

Under normal cirucmstances I'd call 911 right now and go to the ER, but antibiotics and painkillers are not going to help this kind of pain. I doubt even narcotics would help. I need an emergency dentist ASAP. What do I do? I've tried everything I can think of, but everything requires money up front that I just don't have.