When To Contact A Doctor
If you think that you have an infection of any kind, including a tooth infection, contact your healthcare provider or seek medical advice from a K doctor.
If you cant get in at your normal dentists office, seek emergency dental treatment as soon as you can.
Infections can start off small and mild, but if left untreated, they can spread throughout the body. If the infection continues to spread, your immune system may get overwhelmed and trigger inflammation throughout the body, which is called sepsis.
If sepsis isnt untreated, it can result in septic shock, a life-threatening condition that can develop when sepsis causes a persons blood pressure to drop dangerously low.
If you have any of the following symptoms, you may have sepsis, and you need to go to the emergency room or call 911 right away:
- General malaise
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Can Tooth Infections Spread To The Body Causes Symptoms & Prevention
A tooth infection is a pocket of bacteria and pus in your tooth. Left untreated, this tooth infection can spread to other parts of your body and may even lead to death.
1 in 2,600 Americans visits the hospital for a tooth infection. A dental abscess is common and dangerous. You must know how to identify signs of tooth infection and treat them if you see those signs.
Can a tooth infection affect your whole body? Yes, a tooth infection can affect your whole body. In severe cases, a dental infection can spread to your face, sinuses, neck, jawbone, blood, and even your entire system.
Infection vs. abscess An infection of bacteria can lead to an abscess . These terms are often used interchangeably, even though they are slightly different.
If youre worried about a potential tooth infection, schedule an appointment with Rejuvenation Dentistry. We have decades of experience with minimally invasive treatments that never expose your body to toxins like mercury.
Meet Mccarl Dental Group
The dentists at McCarl Dental Group take care of patients with dental emergencies every day at our Greenbelt, Maryland dental office. We provide same day emergency dental care to patients with pain from dental infections. Many patients who need emergency dentistry treatment are new to our dental office, and we are happy to help! If youre in need of emergency dentistry services, call our dental office in Greenbelt, MD right way.
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Symptoms Of Tooth Infection Spread To The Jawbone
The most common symptom of a tooth infection spread to the jawbone is pain. This pain is often severe and can radiate from the affected tooth to other parts of your face or head. You may also experience swelling in your face or jaw, and your lymph nodes may be swollen. If the infection spreads to your brain, you may experience fever, headaches, or seizures.
Treatment For A Tooth Infection
There are many ways for your dentist to treat the infected tooth. The type of treatment depends on several factors, like to what extent the infection has spread, and the initial location of the dental abscess. Read further as we explain the possible different treatment for a tooth infection.
Root Canal Therapy: It may be necessary to receive a root canal treatment. This can help treat abscesses deep inside the tooth. The root canal therapy procedure requires thedentist to drill into the tooth and remove the pocket of pus and bacteria at the root of the tooth. Once finished, thedentist will fill the space with a material called gutta-percha. After the tooth is healed, thedentist can restore the tooth with a dental crown, or a filling to prevent an infection from happening again.
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How Is An Abscessed Tooth Treated
Goals of treatment are to eliminate the infection and prevent complications. Treatment options include:
- Incision and drainage: Your dentist makes a small incision in the abscess to drain the pus. Sometimes a small rubber drain is placed to keep the area open for drainage.
- Root canal: This option helps to eliminate the infection and save your tooth. This common procedure removes the tooths infected inner pulp, and fills the space with material to prevent another infection. The inner pulp is important when the tooth is growing but once its mature, the tooth can survive without the pulp. After the procedure, your tooth should be back to normal, though you may need a crown to protect the root canal. If you care for the restored tooth properly, it can last a lifetime.
- Tooth extraction: Sometimes the tooth cannot be saved, and your dentist may need to pull or extract the tooth allowing pus to drain from the socket.
- Antibiotics: If the infection is limited to the abscessed area, you many not require antibiotics, but sometimes your dentist may recommend them to assist with your dental treatment. It is important to know, that while this medication may help fight off remaining bacteria, it will not get rid of the cause of the infection, which is the affected tooth.
Tooth Infection Treatment Options
To treat tooth infection, your dentist cleans out the bacterial infection before repairing the tooth. This is known as root canal treatment. This treatment requires drilling of the infected tooth to get to the infected area. The bacterial infection is removed, and an antibacterial solution is used to clean out the root canal. After that, a dental crown is placed over the affected tooth for protection. Depending on the severity of the infection, your dentist may also prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection.
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How Do I Know If My Tooth Is Rotting
Symptoms of tooth decaytoothache either continuous pain keeping you awake or occasional sharp pain without an obvious cause. tooth sensitivity you may feel tenderness or pain when eating or drinking something hot, cold or sweet. grey, brown or black spots appearing on your teeth. bad breathâ¦. see more
Benefits Of Early Treatment
It is always advisable to follow a dentists instructions regarding your teeth.
The earlier you get treatment, the fewer complications your tooth infection will experience.
You can also follow the instructions for preventing tooth infections listed above.
If you are in Houston, Texas, and need dental care, dont hesitate to contact Brownstone Dental.
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Do You Need Antibiotics After Tooth Extraction
Antibiotics given just before or just after surgery may reduce the risk of infection and dry socket after the removal of wisdom teeth by oral surgeons.
In the case of an upper front tooth the root is generally cone-shaped, so there is not too much resistance to removal One source for this particular procedures name is from the dental insurance code ascribed to it, simple uncomplicated extraction.
Warning Signs Of An Infected Tooth
It is never a good idea to try and diagnose your own oral health, and its an even worse idea to ignore mouth swelling and/or pain with the hope it will simply go away. That pain and uneasiness you feel is your body telling you to pay attention! Here are some of the most common warning signs of an infected tooth:
- Maintaining a low or mid fever can be indicative of many maladies, and a tooth infection is definitely one.
- A continuous throbbing tooth that spreads its pulsating pain through the jawbone and neck and ear is probably one of the clearest signs you are suffering from a tooth infection.
- A sharp pain when eating or drinking items that are hot or cold temperatures.
- A sharp pain when your teeth are activechewing gum, biting down on food, brushing, flossing, etc.
- If you notice any swelling of the face, or portions of the face such as the cheeks, is a good sign of infection. This swelling can also cause difficulty breathing and swallowing.
- If ever your lymph nodes and jaw/neck area are sore for a series of days, this could be due to infection.
- Bad breath you cant seem to get rid of even after thoroughly brushing, rinsing can be due to a tooth that is rotting from infection.
- To go along with the bad breath, there may also be a bad taste in the mouth that wont go awaythis is when the infection itself begins to leak into other areas of the mouth.
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How Do Impacted Wisdom Teeth Affect My Oral Health
Impacted wisdom teeth can cause pain, infection and damage to other teeth. Wisdom teeth are also difficult to clean. As a result, theyre more prone to tooth decay and gum disease.
Can impacted wisdom teeth cause headaches?
Yes. In some cases, impacted wisdom teeth can cause radiating pain in your jaw, face and head.
What Causes Tooth Infection
Causes of Tooth Infection Tooth decay results from poor dental hygiene practices. Bacteria builds up from unremoved food chunks and plaques in the teeth, which decays over time resulting in dental caries. When bacteria penetrate the enamel, they infect the pulp tissue leading to an infection known as a tooth abscessâ¦. view details
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Effects Of Tooth Infection
An untreated tooth infection may lead to more severe health conditions, such as:
If an immediate tooth infection treatment is not given to a patient suffering from a tooth infection, the bacterial infection can spread to the blood leading to a medical condition known as sepsis.
The common symptoms of sepsis are rapid heart rate and high fever. The heartbeat rate may rise to about 90 beats per minute or more and the body temperature may rise as high as 101.3°F. Patients with sepsis may also exhibit difficulty breathing at 20 breaths per minute.
Other signs and symptoms of progressing sepsis include mental confusion and mottling skin. If the blood pressure is too low, the patient may experience septic shock. Sepsis can either kill or cause disability. Therefore, prevention or early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to survival. Sepsis may be treated with antibiotics, however pus in the infected area requires surgery.
Meningitis
A tooth infection can also lead to life-threatening meningitis an inflammation of the membranes near the brain and spinal cord. For instance, if a tooth infection is left untreated, it can spread to the bloodstream, spinal cord and brain. People with compromised body immune systems are highly susceptible to meningitis and may require lengthy hospitalization.
Ludwigs Angina
- Trouble speaking
- Difficulty breathing
What Happens When A Tooth Infection Spreads
Teeth infections are a common problem and can take place for several reasons.
In fact, most people have had a toothache at some point in their lives.
Tooth decay and tooth sensitivity are among the most common reasons for a tooth infection.
But what happens when a tooth infection spreads?
A tooth infection can start from a small cavity, which may be unnoticeable.
As the cavity spreads, the disease will spread and cause pain and swelling.
However, if the infection spreads to other parts of the body, the situation can be quite serious.
It is important to note that tooth infections can also be a result of gum disease or other dental issues.
In some cases, tooth infections can also be caused by a dental procedure.
However, despite the cause, if a tooth infection spreads, it can cause a lot of damage.
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What Is A Tooth Root Infection
Tooth root infection or periapical abscess is an accumulation of pus at the roots of the tooth caused by a bacterial infection. It happens when the bacteria reach the tooth pulp where the connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves are located.
Causes of tooth root infection that allows the bacteria to reach the tooth root:
- Untreated tooth decay
- Injury resulting in a cracked tooth
While a toothache can mean a lot of things, its one of the symptoms of tooth infection along with other signs that include:
- Throbbing pain reaching the jaw, neck, or ear
- Pain or sensitivity when chewing or biting food
- Pain or sensitivity when eating hot and cold food or beverages
- Difficulty breathing or swallowing
- Foul smell and taste in your mouth
When patients disregard the symptoms mentioned above, the bacteria will reach the blood vessels and run through the bloodstream. The infection will spread throughout the body and cause life-threatening risk factors, especially for patients with underlying conditions.
Will Amoxicillin Treat A Jaw Infection
As the Mayo Clinic notes, your dentist may prescribe an antibiotic such as amoxicillin for abscessed tooth treatment to keep the infection from spreading to nearby teeth, your jaw or other facial structures.
How do you know if you have a jaw abscess?
an intense, throbbing pain in the affected tooth or gum that may come on suddenly and gets gradually worse. pain that spreads to your ear, jaw and neck on the same side as the affected tooth or gum. pain thats worse when lying down, which may disturb your sleep.
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Relieving Pain From Dental Abscesses
A Dental abscess and periodontal abscess can be very painful. There are a few things that you can do at home to help relieve your pain until you can see your dentist.
Rinse your mouth with warm salt water. This will help to reduce swelling and pain.
Take over-the-counter pain medication, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
Apply a cold compress to the outside of your face. This will help to reduce swelling.
If you have a toothache, it is best to see your dentist as soon as possible so that they can determine the cause of the pain and provide proper treatment. A Tooth abscess and jaw bone infection can lead to severe complications if left untreated.
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Tooth Infection Symptoms How To Know If You Have An Infected Tooth
Do you have a toothache? Does it hurt when you chew food? Are your teeth sensitive to hot and cold? It sounds like you have a tooth infection and will need to schedule an emergency dental appointment with your dentist. The longer you leave it, the worse it will get. This article discusses why teeth become infected, tooth infection symptoms, and treating the condition with the help of root canal therapy.
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Relieving Your Symptoms At Home
There are a few things that you can do at home to help relieve your symptoms until you can see your dentist.
Rinse your mouth with warm salt water. This will help to reduce swelling and pain.
Take over-the-counter pain medication, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
Apply a cold compress to the outside of your face. This will help to reduce swelling.
Do not attempt to drain the pus from a tooth abscess on your own. This can lead to further infection. If you have a toothache, it is best to see your dentist as soon as possible so that they can determine the cause of the pain and provide proper treatment.
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What Are The Types Of Dental Abscesses
There are two main types of oral abscesses periapical, and periodontal abscesses.
- Periapical abscess . These abscesses occur within the tooth, and are usually caused by untreated dental cavities, an injured or broken tooth, and in some cases they are even caused by prior dental work.
- Periodontal abscess . If food becomes trapped between the gum and tooth, bacteria can build up underneath the gum and in the bone. This can cause an abscess on the gums.
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Will A Tooth Infection Go Away On Its Own
A tooth infection will not go away on its own. Your toothache may stop if an infection causes the pulp inside your tooth to die. The pain stops because the nerve isnt functioning anymore, so you may not be able to feel it. However, the bacteria will continue to spread and destroy surrounding tissue. If you have tooth infection symptoms, see your dentist even if you no longer have pain.
What Causes Extreme Pain After Tooth Extraction
The socket becomes inflamed and may fill with food debris, adding to the pain If you develop dry socket, the pain usually begins one to three days after your tooth is removed Dry socket is the most common complication following tooth extractions, such as the removal of third molars .
Bleeding should continue for up to 24 hoursIt is normal for bleeding to exist for up to 24 hours after the tooth extraction However, the bleeding should be minimal and tolerable, and excessive bleeding that causes a major distraction or that causes major discomfort that is not tolerable is a concern.
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Increased Heart And Breathing Rate
Do you notice that your heart starts beating faster than normal? What about your breathing? Do you feel like you’re panting to get enough air?
Both of these are indications that sepsis is beginning to set in. If this happens to you, don’t wait to get in to see your dentist. You need to see a doctor right away.
Treatments For A Dental Abscess
Dental abscesses are treated by removing the source of the infection and draining away the pus.
Depending on the location of the abscess and how severe the infection is, possible treatments include:
- removing the affected tooth this may be necessary if root canal treatment isn’t possible
- root canal treatment a procedure to remove the abscess from the root of an affected tooth before filling and sealing it
- incision and drainage where a small cut is made in the gum to drain the abscess
Local anaesthetic will usually be used to numb your mouth for these procedures. More extensive operations may be carried out under general anaesthetic .
Antibiotics aren’t routinely prescribed for dental abscesses, but may be used if the infection spreads or is particularly severe.
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