January 17, 2019
Will that tooth pain goes away or is it a tooth abscess which requires attention from your dentist? learn how to identify, treat, and prevent a tooth abscess.
Are you in the worst tooth pain of your life? Is your gum swollen and sore to the touch? Are you unable to sleep, or even sit still? Have you taken painkillers, but to no avail? Hours later, are you still writhing in pain, unable to eat and barely able to think?
Sounds like a tooth abscess, alright. To say that an abscessed tooth can be painful is an understatement. Untreated tooth abscesses can be agonizing and quite possibly the worst pain you’ve ever felt.
The good news? Most abscessed tooth pain can be remedied quickly and with a lot less pain than you’re suffering through right now.
In fact, the most painful part of treating an abscessed tooth is getting yourself to the dentist. But the dentist is exactly where you need to be—as soon as possible— to get rid of the pain and also get rid of the underlying infection causing it.
While you’re making that emergency appointment for your dentist, let’s talk about what an abscessed tooth is, what causes it, and how it’s treated, so you know what to expect at your appointment.
A tooth abscess is an infection within the tooth. The pain from an abscess can hit you quite suddenly. Although the pain seems to out of nowhere, a tooth abscess has likely been in the making for years.
Tooth abscess (periapical): This is when the abscess occurs inside of the tooth.
Gum abscess (periodontal): This is when the abscess is between the tooth and the gum. Especially for those with gingivitis or severe gum disease, food can get trapped between the gum and the tooth. An invasion of bacteria then leads to an infection.
Pain. Not sure if you have an abscessed tooth or not? If you truly have an abscess, you won’t be wondering what’s wrong with your tooth…you’ll know that something is very wrong. The pain is that intense. It’ll start out slow, maybe, as a dull throb, but it amps up very quickly.
The telltale symptoms of an abscessed tooth is pain that you can’t ignore. The pain can vary from an annoying, but tolerable, throbbing pain to a shooting pain that brings you to your knees, the emergency room, or both.
This pain may also be accompanied by one or several other symptoms, such as:
So, what forces conspired together to create your agonizing tooth infection?
There are two main causes that can lead to a dental abscess. The first (and most common) cause is severe tooth decay. This tooth decay is most always related to a poor diet consisting of high sugar, processed foods, and refined carbohydrates.
The second cause of tooth abscess is physical trauma to the tooth. If the tooth absorbs a blow, and is subsequently chipped or broken, it’s vulnerable to infection.
An untreated cavity, chip, or crack in your teeth can “open the door” for bacteria to enter inside of your dental pulp, which is in the center of your tooth. The dental pulp contains everything vital to the “life” of your tooth, such as blood vessels and nerves.
When bacteria
Not sure what you should expect when you go to the dentist to treat your dental infection?
First, the dentist will do a physical examination of your tooth. Abscessed teeth are usually accompanied by red, swollen gums. He or she will also probe the offending tooth gently. You will feel slight discomfort but the good news is that your pain is almost over.
Your dentist typically will take an X-ray of the bone surrounding the abscess to check for bone loss at the tip of the root of the tooth—this is what verifies that you do, indeed, have an abscess, and something else causing all that pain.
The dentist’s main goal in treating your tooth abscess is to get rid of the infection and prevent the tooth from needing to be extracted.
The dentist will likely prescribe a round of antibiotics to fight the infection. To combat the pain, your dentist may recommend ibuprofen. For particularly acute pain, your dentist may also write a prescription for a stronger painkiller.
Root canal: Your dentist will attempt to save your tooth with a root canal treatment. During this treatment, the root canal of your tooth is cleaned and disinfected. The dentist will then seal the tooth’s pulp and root canals, and “cap” the tooth with a crown.
Extraction: a root canal is not advisable if it is not possible to restore the tooth. If that is the case, a tooth extraction must be performed.
You’re probably wrestling with yourself on whether you need to go to the dentist, or if you could just tough it out and wait for the pain to subside.
The last thing you want to do is “wait it out”. The pain associated with your tooth infection may stop because the pulp in the root of your tooth has died. But that doesn’t stop the infection. Even without pain, the infection will continue to spread. And in its wake, it will destroy the surrounding tissue, leading to even bigger problems.
How to get out of pain while you’re waiting? You can try my 3-3-3 method for tooth pain (using 200mg tablets of Advil). Keep in mind that this method does not cure an abscess—you will still need to see your dentist immediately so that you can get on an antibiotic as soon as possible, even if the pain goes away!
That’s why it’s still crucial to visit a dentist if you suspect an abscessed tooth infection— even if you’re not experiencing any more pain. Abscesses don’t go away on their own. This infection will continue to spread, and may eventually corrupt other teeth or worse.
Tooth abscesses cannot be treated at home. You will need to seek proper dental treatment to get rid of the infection, although these home remedies can help alleviate the pain temporarily:
Even if the pain subsides, you should always see the dentist to get a tooth abscess checked out.
When ignored, teeth infections can lead to dire consequences. Even though you may not feel it, the infection is still there and can spread quickly to the rest of your body. One rare but serious tooth abscess complication is sepsis, a life-threatening infection that can be caused by allowing your tooth infection to go unchecked. Just don’t risk it.
The best prevention against
Pain in the mouth always indicates a problem—and these problems don’t go away on their own. Fortunately, this is the kind of problem that can be treated quite easily.
If you suspect a dental abscess, don’t wait—seek help immediately. The sooner you get things checked out by your dentist, the sooner you can get back to your life. You will feel like yourself again, promise!
Dr. Mark Burhenne
askthedentist.com
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