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If you have a dental abscess and cannot get a dental appointment very quickly, you could be in for some nasty symptoms and even the danger of life-threatening sepsis without taking effective antibiotics. For most people, buying amoxicillin is the best option, but that is not always the case.
As with any medication, there will be individuals who are unable to take it. An allergy is the most common reason, while sometimes people with a particular medical condition or taking other medications will not be able to do so. This means it is useful when there is an alternative to hand. In this case, metronidazole is another option.
Potential Issues With Amoxicillin
In the case of amoxicillin, allergies are a potential issue, and because it is a modified version of penicillin, anyone with an allergy to that drug will have the same issue with amoxicillin.
It is important to note that research has shown most people who have been told (or believe) they have an allergy to penicillin do not, often because they suffered something like a mild rash when they were given it as a child.
Around 90 per cent of those who believe they have such an allergy are mistaken, with around one per cent actually having a genuine allergy.
Nonetheless, a real allergy is a serious threat to health and if you are allergic to penicillin or amoxicillin, you cannot take it.
Other impediments that could stop you from taking amoxicillin include if you have kidney or liver problems, as well as some temporary situations that may not apply most of the time but might at the present moment. The latter category includes if you have just had (or are about to have) any vaccinations, or are suffering from glandular fever.
In addition, you should not take it if you are about to provide a blood or urine sample, as the drug may affect the accuracy of the test result.
Introducing Metronidazole
These are all good reasons to seek an alternative and when we carry out your online assessment, we will check these things. If amoxicillin will not work for you, metronidazole may be the best alternative.
Metronidazole is an antibiotic that works in treating a wide range of infections, although the most important consideration here is how it can work against the bacteria in a tooth abscess.
It is very effective against anaerobic bacteria, which means bacteria that do not need oxygen to survive. That would be true of something buried deep in the root of a tooth, like a periapical abscess. Such bacteria include fusobacteria and peptostreptococci.
The drug works by reacting with the cytoplasm (cell chemistry) of the bacteria and transforming into a free radical that disrupts the DNA. This prevents the bacteria from reproducing and kills them, thus removing the infection.
Of course, to anyone suffering from the pain and swelling of a tooth infection, the complex science stuff may be less interesting than the simple question of how well metronidazole works. The good news is that research has shown it has comparable levels of effectiveness to penicillin-based antibiotics like amoxicillin.
Potential Issues With Metronidazole
Some might wonder, given how similar the benefits of metronidazole are to amoxicillin, why it isn’t automatically the antibiotic of choice. However, just as there can be circumstances in which amoxicillin cannot be taken, the same is true for metronidazole.
Firstly, there are some restrictions that anyone taking it will have to consider. For instance, you cannot consume alcohol while taking this antibiotic, which is fine going forward as you stick to soft drinks, but also applies if you have had alcohol anytime in the last three days, so you may have to wait a bit longer to start, suffering more pain and infection in the meantime.
You should also check if you have consumed some less obvious substances that would prevent you from taking it, such as anything containing propylene glycol in the previous three days, or disulfiram in the previous 14 days. A careful check of your current and recent medication will therefore be required.
There may also be issues with taking it if you have certain medical conditions, including Crohn’s disease, liver or kidney disease (this one being a common problem with amoxicillin), a fungal infection, arrhythmia or blood cell disorders.
Apart from all these things, there is the unfortunate reality that it is possible to be allergic to metronidazole, too.
Getting The Best Treatment
The key point to note is that both amoxicillin and metronidazole are very effective antibiotics for treating dental abscesses. However, in each case, there will be circumstances in which they cannot be used.
This is why you need a consultation with experts to make sure you are getting safe medication, works well for you, and provides the infection relief you need.
