Your dentist may need to drain the abscess. During this procedure, they'll make a small incision (cut) in your gums, then apply pressure to drain the infection. Gum disease treatment. To get rid of the infection, your dentist may recommend scaling and root planing (deep dental cleaning) or gum surgery.
If the pain gets worst and starts to spread into the gums, you have a dental emergency and need to see a dentist immediately. When these smaller infections are caught in time the natural tooth can be saved, and a dental procedure can be performed with minimal pain and discomfort.
A dental abscess is a build-up of pus in the teeth or gums caused by an infection. It needs urgent treatment by a dentist. A dental abscess will not go away on its own.
In a scaling and root planing procedure, a dentist or hygienist uses special instruments called scalers to remove these harmful substances beneath the gums. In some cases, an ultrasonic scaler may be used. This instrument sprays water and vibrates to help disrupt and flush out the damaging bacteria.
A periodontal abscess is the third most common dental emergency. It is characterized by overgrowth of mixed pathogenic bacteria. The dental hygienist should scale and root plane as completely as possible to remove subgingival deposits.
Do not squeeze the pus out of the abscess yourself, because this can easily spread the bacteria to other areas of your skin. If you use tissues to wipe any pus away from your abscess, dispose of them straight away to avoid germs spreading. Wash your hands after you've disposed of the tissues.
Don't stop your oral hygiene routine: Continue to brush and floss. Don't be fooled if your dental abscess stops hurting: Pain associated with a dental abscess may go away if the tooth root has died. But a dead tooth root doesn't mean the infection is gone.
A tooth abscess won't go away without treatment. If the abscess ruptures, the pain may improve a lot, making you think that the problem has gone away — but you still need to get dental treatment. If the abscess doesn't drain, the infection may spread to your jaw and to other areas of your head and neck.
If the infection is limited to the abscessed area, you may not need antibiotics. But if the infection has spread to nearby teeth, your jaw or other areas, your dentist will likely prescribe antibiotics to stop it from spreading further.
In most cases, your dentist will give you antibiotics to stop the infection. He or she may need to cut open (lance) the abscess so that the infection can drain. This should relieve your pain. You may also need more dental treatment, such as tooth removal or oral surgery to fix bone damage caused by the abscess.
What's The Takeaway? To summarize, a dentist can easily pull an infected tooth out. However, to prevent the bacteria from infecting other sites, dentists prefer to either drain the abscess or reduce the infection with the help of antibiotics first. This way, there won't be any alarming results after.
In conclusion, the maximum period that an untreated tooth abscess can sustain is 12 months or more. But, such longevity is associated with dangerous complications such as sepsis or even death.
A periodontal abscess forms in your gums, while a periapical abscess forms in your tooth pulp (the innermost layer of your tooth).
A dental abscess can form in a matter of a few days. This infection does not go away on its own. Without treatment, an abscess can continue for several months, possibly even years. Most abscesses cause intense tooth pain, indicating to a patient that prompt treatment is needed.
Tooth abscess is absolutely a dental emergency. If you have a tooth abscess, you need to seek treatment immediately. Left untreated, abscess can lead to infection that spreads through the body causing serious and even life-threatening effects. The sooner these issues are treated the better!
After a person begins to take antibiotics, it should take 2-3 days for the infection to begin to clear. A person should finish the entire course of the medication as prescribed by their doctor even if they begin to feel better sooner. A common treatment period is 7 days.
In general, amoxicillin is a commonly prescribed, safe antibiotic used for treating various different infections, including an abscessed tooth.
Treatment recommendations
Amoxicillin-clavulanate 500 mg/125 mg PO TID or 875 mg/125 mg PO BID or. Clindamycin 300-450 mg PO TID-QID or 600-900 mg IV q6-8h. Duration of therapy: 7 days.
Tooth abscesses don't form overnight—there are multiple stages to formation, starting with enamel erosion and progressing to dentin decay, pulp decay, and finally abscess formation. This process can take weeks or even months.
You might be wondering what to do next after the gum abscess popped by itself. It's possible that you find yourself dealing with a mixture of pus, blood, and bad odor from your mouth when the abscess bursts. You should take the necessary steps to drain the pus, keeping the area clean.
After drainage we would clean and irrigate the infected root surfaces to remove any noticeable bacterial plaque, and possibly prescribe antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication to reduce swelling and pain. The drained abscess should heal in a few days to a week.
If you have an abscess it's best to avoid eating very hard or chewy foods, such as boiled sweets or candies, sharp foods, such as crisps and crusty bread, acidic flavours such as sour sweets and very hot foods and drinks, such as pies and pastries, hot coffee and tea and hot soup.
Avoid cold drinks, juices, ice creams, coffee, tea, or hot soups. These may trigger the exposed dentin and cause extreme pain. Avoid foods and beverages that are very high in sugar, or are very acidic.
The treatment for an abscessed tooth depends on its severity. If you catch an abscessed tooth in its early stages, your dentist can treat it with antibiotics or by draining the pus. However, if the tooth becomes infected, your dentist will need to do root canal therapy to save the tooth from dying.