My tooth started to hurt, couldn’t chew on it, far top left. Dentist said had an infection, 7/22/25 started ten days amoxicillin, still feels fine today 8/28/25, supposed to have it pulled sept 10, is it necessary since right now it feels fine. – Rosie from Amherst, NY
(See Dr. Hall’s answer below.)
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Rosie,
The antibiotics can’t get inside your infected tooth, so it can’t eliminate your infection—it only tames it down. It will come back and probably worse than the first time and the bacteria this time may be resistant to the antibiotic.
So absolutely you need to have the tooth taken out.
If it starts hurting again before your appointment, call the dentist to get a refill right away of the antibiotic. The infection has to be under control in order for the novocain to work.
But I do have an issue with your dentist. The tooth should be taken out while you are on the antibiotics. The infection needs to be toned down before extracting an upper tooth because the novocain doesn’t tend to work in the presence of pus. So he or she should have started you on 10 days of antibiotics (that part is good), and sometime around the 4th to the 7th day take the tooth out. If they can’t fit you in during that time, the prescription should be extended so it goes through the extraction appointment. But your dentist had you wait 7 weeks! Not good. They should have referred you to someone who could take care of it sooner.
– Dr. David Hall
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About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
This makes a lot of sense. I didn’t realize the infection could still be there and come back worse. Really helpful to know that timing matters with the extraction too.