Experiencing tooth pain or a dental abscess can be some of the most intense and direct pain that you will ever feel. The nerves inside your teeth are actually some of the most sensitive in your entire body, so when they are irritated or inflamed, that pain can be excruciating.
The intensity of dental pain can be so overwhelming that you may not even be able to tell exactly where it is coming from. At that point, your top concern becomes making it stop.
As ailments go, an abscessed tooth can be one of the most painful. While we spend a lot of time discussing whether sugar really can hurt your teeth, having a dental abscess can make that topic seem insignificant. Here is how to know when you have an abscess and what you should do about it.
What is it?
A dental abscess or abscessed tooth is an infection in your mouth. In some cases, the infection can be very localized and be centered on one tooth. However, some dental abscesses get out of control and can begin to affect more areas of the mouth and can even become deadly.
To say an abscess can be deadly is no overstatement. Ludwig’s Angina is a type of cellulitis, or infection of the tissue, that makes your neck and the floor of your mouth swell, sometimes to a point that cuts off access to air. Additionally, the tooth infection can spread to the blood and major organs like the brain, heart, and lungs, which can be deadly if untreated.
Long-term, untreated infections in your mouth or elsewhere take a toll on your overall health and have been shown in studies to do serious damage to the heart. Allowing an abscess in your mouth to fester for a long time greatly increases your chances of developing heart disease.
How to Care for a Dental Abscess
Trying to treat a dental abscess at home is like playing with fire. The end result of mishandling an abscess in your mouth is likely to include damage to your teeth, tooth loss, and even damage to your overall health.
The Mayo Clinic recommends that an oral abscess should be treated by opening the abscess to let it drain, the application of antibiotics to be rid of the infection, and then a root canal or tooth removal to solve the problem in the long term.
If you are experiencing symptoms that could be from an abscess you should seek the care of an emergency dentist immediately. While a hospital emergency room can administer life saving antibiotics, they can not treat the underlying cause of the abscess, which means it will likely return in the near future.
A skilled dentist will be able to stop the infection and the root cause of it. Having emergency dental care when you have a dental abscess will completely treat the problem as well as eliminate the infection and get you out of pain for the long term.
Get Treatment for Your Dental Abscess
You should never overlook a dental abscess and just hope that it goes away on its own. If you suspect you have a dental abscess visit Bella Dental online or call (805) 410-1033 to get the professional dental services you need right away.