OR Nurses...oral surgery experts...please chime in...

I know the TOS...I'm not looking for advice...just a question.

I'm having oral surgery to clean and fill some infected holes left by wisdom tooth extraction.

The surgeon has but me on two antibiotics (Amox and Flagyl) prior to surgery...makes sense, he wants the infection cleaned up before I arrive.

Question: I started the course today, it is a week long, the surgery isn't until April 2nd...sure the infection will have disappeared...but would it not make sense to take the course maybe 2 weeks prior instead of two months? The infection isn't uncomfortable...for now. Any wisdom or input would be appreciated.

Thanks folks.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

You're not concerned about bacteremia?

[AirforceRN, RN]

I had my wisdom teeth out 5 or 6 years ago, had my first problem with the "holes" 6 months ago, I figure if I was going to get bacteremia...it would have happened by now. Anyway....I'm taking them now...not too easy on the gut are they?

[SmilingBluEyes]

Have you sought a 2nd medical opinion? You are right, TOS prohibits exchange of medical advice at allnurses.com.

I wish you complete recovery and healing. Good luck.

[sissiesmama, ASN, RN]

Oh, I would not want to be in your shoes!! Even if I find out through experience that it isn't bad, I still stress.

Good luck to you, and I hope you have an uneventful recovery pd. Take it easy if you can, I know they keep you busy.

Anne, RNC

[AirforceRN, RN]

Haha...thanks for the kind words, I appreciate them.

As for second opinions...they are limited in my line of work...you go to the dentists that are provided to you. I do trust him though, he gave me the "good Dr. feeling" if you know what I mean.

For now, I'll just do my course, hope for the best and see what happens.

I'll tell you though...first time on flagyl...not a big fan.

[sissiesmama, ASN, RN]

Haha...thanks for the kind words, I appreciate them.

As for second opinions...they are limited in my line of work...you go to the dentists that are provided to you. I do trust him though, he gave me the "good Dr. feeling" if you know what I mean.

For now, I'll just do my course, hope for the best and see what happens.

I'll tell you though...first time on flagyl...not a big fan.

I can tell it's late, because when I read your posting, one red faced moment hit me when I was having a root canal and had on my ipod, pretty high to drown out the drill, ect. So, I felt like it was slipping out of my lap and tried to grab it.

Well, when I tried to grab the ipod, my hand accidentally hit his knee. He had to have thought I was some kind of freak or something.

Anne, RNC

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I'm not an OR nurse, nor an oral surgery expert, and I have four perfect wisdom teeth in my ample big wide mouth. :)

However, it doesn't sound like this is a prophylactic pre-op antibiodic dose. That's usually given as a low dose over a shorter span kind of thing. It sounds like if they are infected that you need to be treated now and it's more of a treatment dose.

Just my two cents.

[sissiesmama, ASN, RN]

I'm not an OR nurse, nor an oral surgery expert, and I have four perfect wisdom teeth in my ample big wide mouth. :)

However, it doesn't sound like this is a prophylactic pre-op antibiodic dose. That's usually given as a low dose over a shorter span kind of thing. It sounds like if they are infected that you need to be treated now and it's more of a treatment dose, rather than a prophylactic dose.

Just my two cents.

Hey Tweety - that's what I was thinking but not sure.

Anne, RNC

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

This question needs to be adressed to your Dentist for proper advice ....give them a call today.