What is abscess? Some people do not consider tooth decay a serious health problem. But if no measure is taken against the tooth decay in time, it can lead to a more serious disease. At the result of decay bacteria can penetrate into the tooth. Infection can spread into root and surrounding tissues. It is known as abscess. If the infection reaches the bone, the tooth can be lost. Infected tooth root and swelled tissue can cause a pain. If the root dies, the pain will stop. But afterwards it gradually will harm the joined bone. Generated pus, as a part of infection can erode a channel alongside the jaw and can cause a swelling on the gingiva, or can lead a skin tumor full of pus.
The symptoms of abscess · Constant and pulsing pain in a tooth; · Sensitivity to cold and hot food and drink; · Pain upon touching; · Swelled lymph nodes at the neck · Temperature and general weakness.
The abscess diagnoses If there is a constant and pulsing pain in your tooth and if you feel pain when you touch, if you have become sensitive to hot and cold food and drinks, it means that you might have a tooth with an abscess. Alongside with these symptoms you can also have slight temperature, swelled lymph nodes and general weakness. A swelling formed on the gingiva next to the aching tooth can burst out and at the result of it a liquid with a bad taste and smell can ooze out. At the same time with this the pain will calm down. If you will experience one of the above mentioned symptoms, immediately consult with the doctor. Your dentist will examine you and will advise how to proceed.
The treatment of abscess You can take aspirin or any other pain-killer before going to a doctor. You can put aspirin directly on the tooth or on the surrounding tissue. For calming down the pain it is possible to rinse the mouth with warm and salty water every hour. But it does not treat; it just soothes the ache for some time. In the past, an only way to treat the tooth with abscess was to extract it. Under some conditions, this way can still be single solution. But at present time dentists generally treat the tooth with the abscess. As a first step, your dentist will apply an antibiotic treatment to get away the infection. Thus spread of infection is prevented. For your comfort, a separate prescription is written to calm down the pain. To save your tooth, your dentist can anesthetize that area and afterwards he can make a hole in a tooth root socket. It will reduce the pressure. The tooth root socket will be cleaned, disinfected and filled with immobile substance. If after the treatment of the tooth with abscess, the swelling goes on growing, your dentist will test if you have a disease called actinomycosis. As the next step, your dentist will fill the tooth with a temporary filling.
After cleaning the infection Your dentist will probably want to see you for several times repeatedly for some moths. In the second meeting the doctor will make an X-ray to check if the hole left after abscess is grown or not. If the hole is seen healthy, the treatment will be completed. If the infection goes on, an additional treatment is needed and in this case your dentist can forward you to a specialist who can operate in order to eliminate the infection.
