Health & Fitness 

Is a Dental Abscess an Oral Health Emergency?

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If you were asked to make a list of the different oral health emergencies that exist, there is a pretty good chance that it would take you a while to add “dental abscess” to it. That’s because people don’t always think that a dental abscess is an actual emergency.

But the truth of the matter is that a dental abscess is almost always an oral health emergency that should be dealt with immediately. If you don’t seek dental abscess treatment, it could cause a whole host of complications that could result in some serious health issues.

Are you unaware of what a dental abscess is and how dangerous that it could potentially be? If so, you should continue reading to find out more about dental abscesses and the dangers involved with them.

Here is everything you need to know about dental abscesses.

What Is a Dental Abscess?

First things first: Let’s make sure that you understand what a dental abscess is before we talk about anything else. It’s important for you to be able to wrap your head around what a dental abscess is so that you can comprehend the severity of it.

A dental abscess is a bacterial infection that produces pus. It often forms deep down at the root of a tooth where the blood vessels, connective tissues, and nerves for a tooth are.

More often than not, dental abscesses form as a direct result of the advanced tooth decay that appears when a tooth either chips or breaks. But they can also form when the enamel on people’s teeth wears down and allows bacteria to sneak inside.

Whatever the case, you aren’t going to want to let a dental abscess linger for very long. If you do, it can spread out to the bones that are in charge of providing support for your teeth. This can lead to one or more of your teeth falling out, and it can even lead to an infection spreading to other portions of your body.

What Are the Dental Abscess Symptoms?

If you have a dental abscess, it’s going to be almost impossible to miss it. You’re going to be reminded of your dental abscess at every second of the day thanks to the dental abscess symptoms that will come along with it.

Here are several of the most common dental abscess symptoms:

  • Extreme tooth pain
  • Severe headache
  • High fever
  • Swelling in the gums
  • Swelling of the entire jaw

You might also experience dental abscess drainage. You’ll see pus coming out of your gums and causing a very bitter taste in your mouth. As you might imagine, it would be pleasant living with this drainage for very long.

Why Is a Dental Abscess Considered an Oral Health Emergency?

A dental abscess is considered an oral health emergency because it can force you to live with a tremendous amount of pain. It’s a kind of pain that won’t go away when you take a couple of Advil or Tylenol to try and get a grip on it.

It’s also a kind of pain that could be a sign of things to come for you. We don’t want to scare you too much, but there are some instances in which a dental abscess could threaten your life.

It’s why we would strongly recommend that you seek emergency dentistry services at the very first sign of a dental abscess. You might put yourself in harm’s way if you don’t act fast.

What Is the Most Common Dental Abscess Treatment?

There are several different things that an emergency dentist might do if you come to their office with a dental abscess. They’ll try to figure out the right course of action to take when it comes to dental abscess treatment.

First, they’ll typically try to drain the dental abscess to provide pain relief for you. They’ll make a small incision in your gums that will allow the pus from the dental abscess to escape. They’ll also clean your gums really well to eliminate the infection from it.

That isn’t the only thing that they’ll do, though. Most emergency dentists will also put you on dental abscess antibiotics to continue to attack the infection. This has proven to be an effective method for many people with dental abscesses.

They might also have to take a more extreme approach to helping you out with your dental abscess. This could include:

Some of the dental abscess treatments might seem a little over the top. But they’re not. They help to illustrate just how serious a dental abscess truly is.

What If You Don’t Do Anything About a Dental Abscess?

If you choose not to seek treatment for a dental abscess, you’re going to be asking for trouble. Your dental abscess is not going to go away on its own without the intervention of a dentist.

In a best-case scenario, you’ll put yourself in a position where you’ll need to have a root canal done or a tooth removed because you chose to ignore a dental abscess for a long enough time. In a worst-case scenario, you’ll put your life at risk by not doing anything about a dental abscess.

Either way, you’re going to find yourself in a serious situation. So you should resist the urge to ignore a dental abscess and spring into action as quickly as you can.

Call an Emergency Dentist ASAP to Help You Deal With a Dental Abscess

Do you suspect that you might have a dental abscess? If you do, you should get an emergency dentist on the phone as soon as possible to make an appointment with them.

An emergency dentist will be able to evaluate your dental abscess to see how bad that it is. They’ll also be able to set you up with the dental abscess treatment that you need to make this problem a thing of the past.

Find out some more reasons why you might need to seek the services of an emergency dentist by checking out the other dental articles posted on our blog.