Hip replacement advice needed please!

cazaline
cazaline Member Posts: 61
edited 10. Jan 2010, 19:23 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hey, was hoping for a little input from those in the experience of hip replacements.

I had a hip replacement on 10th December. Basically, I started getting tooth ache yesterday, not too bad but now I'm worried it could be the start of an infection. I still have the ache, so I called the emergency dental helpline, told them I had a hip replacement and that if its infection then there is a possibility it can spread to the prosthesis, which is not a good thing. Now the nurse on the phone wasn't convinced it's a tooth ache, advised me to take paracetamol or ibuprofen as that should stop the ache, but I'm still not convinced (or maybe I''m just over worried) that it is an infection. Now I've had infections in the past and they are generally a whole lot worse than what I'm feeling now, but the pain can be a gradual thing sometimes. They seem very reluctant to give me an appointment but considering the circumstances I don't want to take any risks! Am I being over cautious??

Would the safest thing be to go to the dentist to have it checked anyway simply because of the risk of infection in the replacement??

Advice needed please! If it is an infection I'm not sure how long it would take to spread from a tooth to a prosthesis. I'm 4 weeks and 2 days post of now.

Advice much appreciated!!

Much love

Caroline xXx

Comments

  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,281
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Hi Caroline,
    My advice is to get it checked out, infection from bad teeth is known to spread , it takes a while but you might aswell get it done now to stop you worrying.
    Barbara x
    Love
    Barbara
  • nearlybionic
    nearlybionic Member Posts: 1,901
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Hi
    If you have toothache and your own dentist is closed, ring NHS direct and ask to get an appointment at out of hours Dental unit. They will be able to check out the tooth and put your mind at rest. They can prescribe antibiotics if needed.
    Good luck with your recovery. My `new` hip is nearly a year old now! I can`t believe its gone so quickly!! :D
    NB
  • tkachev
    tkachev Member Posts: 8,332
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Ring your surgeons secretary.Hes sure to know.
    Hope you are feeling okay.I had my hip replaced in July so know how you feel.
    Best wishes
    Elizabeth
    Never be bullied into silence.
    Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
    Accept no ones definition of your life

    Define yourself........

    Harvey Fierstein
  • cazaline
    cazaline Member Posts: 61
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Thanks for the advice everyone. I called up the helpline yesterday, they weren't convinced it was an infection and advised me to take pain killers. I wasn't happy with their answer, I told them I had a hip replacement and that if there is an infection there is a chance it could spread so I wanted to get it checked to be sure. The dental nurse on the phone then said a tooth infection would definitely not spread to a hip replacement. I tried to explain that it was a risk and could happen. Anyway, I eventually managed to get seen today. I asked the dentist if she could see any infection, she said there is a bit of decay in a back tooth but also there is another cracked tooth which needs to be extracted as there is a chance it could get infected. I should have done this before the op, I feel so stupid as I knew it was there but thought that just because there was no infection present at the time of the op, it would be ok :(. She gave me antibiotics to take anyway, so fingers crossed if there is an infection then it won't spread to my hip.

    Much love

    Caroline xXx

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