How Do I Prepare For An Appointment With My Dentist For An Abscessed Tooth
To help you get ready for your appointment:
- Make a list of your symptoms include any that may seem unrelated to your tooth or mouth pain. Remember, your dentist can only help you when they know everything going on.
- Make a list of medications, vitamins, herbs or supplements you may be taking with the dosages of each.
You should prepare a list of questions to ask your dentist, including:
- Whats likely causing my symptoms and condition?
- Which tests do you recommend?
- What is the best course of action?
- Are there alternative to the primary
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Remember, your dentist wants to help keep you and your teeth healthy. Just like other medical professionals you may see, theyre an important part of the healthcare team. Be sure to see your dentist routinely and dont put off regular checkups prevention is key! These visits give your dentist a chance to spot problems early, when they may be easier to treat. If you are experiencing pain, its important to see your dentist to get the care you need.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 08/24/2020.
References
Will A Tooth Abscess Go Away With Antibiotics
You can treat abscesses with antibiotics. If you have an abscess and get antibiotics, your infection symptoms should improve within a few days. However, antibiotics will only affect infections caused by bacteria they wont help you treat infections caused by viruses or fungi.
The treatment will often involve antibiotics combined with painkillers or anti-inflammatory medication and possibly a procedure to drain and clean the abscess.
What Causes A Tooth Infection
The primary cause of a tooth infection is dental caries, or tooth decay. Your mouth is full of bacteria all the time, but usually that bacteria doesnt get inside your teeth where it can cause an infection. When decay causes cavities and cracks or holes in your teeth, bacteria can seep into your teeth and cause a tooth infection. An infection can also happen if you have an injury to your tooth that causes a crack or a chip in the tooth. Keeping your teeth strong and healthy through regular brushing and flossing can help prevent decay and infections.
Infection can happen in different parts of the tooth. Sometimes the infection occurs on the side of the tooth if there is an opening there and that can cause the infection to spread to the gums. Pockets of pus called abscesses can form around the infection that will need to be drained by the dentist for the infection to go away.
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What Is The Best Antibiotic For A Tooth Infection
There is no one antibiotic that is best for treating a tooth infection. The type of antibiotic a dentist recommends will vary depending on the bacteria causing the infection.
This is because different antibiotics work in different ways to eliminate different strains of bacteria. However, doctors will often choose amoxicillin as the first-line treatment.
Signs Your Tooth Is Infected
If youve ever experienced a tooth infection, you know it can be very uncomfortable. A tooth infection is typically accompanied with a pocket of pus caused by a bacterial infection. The abscess can be found anywhere in the mouth.
There are two types of abscesses. A periapical abscess occurs at the tip of the root, whereas a periodontal abscess occurs in the gums, usually near the side of the tooth.
A periapical tooth abscess usually occurs as a result of an untreated dental cavity. If the interior of your tooth , encounters any unknown substance, it can inflame the blood vessels and nerves, impacting the tooth enamel. Endodontic treatment helps treat tooth decay and other infected materials to help seal and fight future infections.
Rick Davis, DDS, and Rick Schwartz, DDS, are experts in endodontics at Endodontic Consultants of San Antonio. If you are experiencing severe tooth pain, visit a specialist who can diagnose and help treat it.
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Will Listerine Kill A Tooth Nerve
Okay, so it doesn’t work for pain but will the Listerine kill the tooth nerve at least?
Unfortunately the answer is still the same. The label does not say anything about rectifying nerve pain from your teeth. The answer to that is more physical because the nerve of the tooth is actually inside of the tooth. The nerves are not on the outside so you can’t get to it. The only way to get to the nerve is to “open” up the tooth. There is no way you’ll be able to open up your tooth yourself.
The tooth needs to be opened up like the photo above for the mouth rinse to get to it. The only person who can open up your tooth like this would be a dentist such as any one of our LIC dentists. If you come to our long island city office, we’ll be more than happy to help you with that!
Last but not least, are you still wondering what is the best mouthwash for a tooth infection, since it can’t kill tooth pain nor can it kill the nerve, so what can it do?
How Much Should I Take
Youll likely be prescribed a seven-day course of clindamycin for a tooth infection. On each of those seven days, youll likely need to take a dose every six hours or so.
There may be one or two capsules in a dose. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions provided with your prescription.
You can take clindamycin either before or after eating. Some people experience throat irritation when taking clindamycin, but following the dose with a full glass of water can help you avoid this.
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Why Do I Get A Toothache At Night
There are many reasons you might get a toothache at night. You may experience a dull throb, a sharp pain or even severe discomfort depending on the type of toothache, what is causing it and how long its gone untreated. Unfortunately, an untreated toothache can severely affect your oral health if neglected, and the pain and discomfort can compromise your sleep and overall wellbeing. Some of the most common causes of a nighttime toothache include:
Before Taking This Medicine
Do not use this medication if you are allergic to penicillin V or to any other penicillin antibiotic, such as:
-
dicloxacillin or
Before using penicillin V, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs , or if you have:
-
a bleeding or blood clotting disorder
-
a history of diarrhea caused by taking antibiotics or
-
a history of any type of allergy.
If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take penicillin V.
FDA pregnancy category B. Penicillin V is not expected to be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. Penicillin V can make birth control pills less effective, which may result in pregnancy. Before taking this medicine, tell your doctor if you use birth control pills. Penicillin V can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
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What Are The Common Side Effects Of Medicine For A Dental Abscess
Different classes of medications have different side effects. However, this is not a complete list, and you should consult with a healthcare professional for possible side effects and drug interactions based on your specific situation.
Oral antibiotics typically can cause upset stomach, intestinal problems, and loss of appetite. Allergic reactions are a concern. Allergies to various types of antibiotics are common and could be severe. About 1 in 15 people are allergic to antibiotics.
NSAIDs are the pain relief medication of choice for dental abscesses. They are widely available, inexpensive, and safe. The major possible issues with NSAIDs are gastrointestinal side effects including stomach problems, ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, and stomach pain. NSAIDs are known to cause kidney failure and can precipitate heart disease in elderly patients. All NSAIDs interfere with the bloods ability to form blood clots, so bleeding and bruising are common problems.
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Rationale For Antibiotic Therapy
The rationale for pharmacological agents in management of aggressive forms of periodontal disease is eliminating the initiating factors and diseased tissues by conventional therapy and augmenting it with systemic pharmacological agents to eliminate the pathogens left in the tissues. It is to be emphasized, in such cases, that use of antibiotics is as important as the conventional therapy. Mechanical treatment may not predictably eliminate putative pathogens such as A. actinomycetemcomitans from sub-gingival area due to them being inaccessible to mechanical intervention, especially in areas such as root concavities, furcation, and their ability to invade periodontal tissues and dentinal tubules. Persistence in non-dental areas such as dorsum of tongue or tonsils is again an important area of concern.
While the use of antibiotics in periodontal treatment will probably always be controversial, reports from both the American Academy of Periodontology and the European Federation of Periodontology contain valuable guidance for their use. Both these reports, following exhaustive literature searches, determined that patients with aggressive periodontitis appear to benefit from the adjunctive use of systemic antibiotics during treatment.
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The Cause Of Mouth Abscess
Mouth abscess is a painful infection some where between the roots of the teeth and gum.
If left unattended pus forms around this area appearing like a lump.
Mouth abscesses often start at the time when bacteria attack a decayed tooth the decay may then infect the jawbones or gums.
Typical symptoms are fever, swelling in the gums, redness in the gums, tooth pain, mouth pain, inability to close mouth etc. Also hot food or chewing may give severe pain. If you are running high temperature its time to call the doctor.
Mouth abscess treatment may include one or more of the following options:
If the infection is between the tooth and gum area, your dentist may most likely try to drain the pus out first.
To do this procedure the dentist may numb the area around the infected part so that you dont feel the pain while he is performing this minor surgery on you.
After this pus removal surgery, cleaning of the area and some antibiotics, healing process starts.
But the abscess can recur as a result of bad brushing or oral hygiene. May be your doctor will recommend cleaning aids to help you take care of these areas.
If the infection is at the root of the tooth your doctor may decide to do root canal therapy. If after the therapy also the infection continues to be there other advanced treatments may be advised.
You may also be prescribed antibiotics to reduce discomfort and stop infection along with the above procedure or as stand-alone.
Avoid Straws Like The Plague
With all thats been happening environmentally to switch from plastic straws to paper straws, dentists should receive credit. Theyve been telling people to not use straws for years.
The reason straws are a big dont on the list of dos and donts after tooth extraction, is because they create suction within the mouth. Thats bad for healing. The space where the tooth was is an open hole that fills with blood. The blood must clot and eventually help produce tissue to close the site. Without the blood clot, the healing stalls.
Straws are a no-no because they create suction which can disrupt the blood clot and cause a dry socket.
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What Helps Abscess Tooth Pain
One popular remedy for reducing abscess tooth pain is to flush the area with coconut oil. First, rinse your mouth out by gargling with warm water. This helps get rid of any discharge. Then put a tablespoon of coconut oil into your mouth and swirl it around your mouth, concentrating on the affected area. Do this for between fifteen and twenty minutes without swallowing the coconut oil. After this time, you can spit the oil out and rinse your mouth with warm water again. Its best if you gargle with coconut oil twice daily until you start to notice an improvement in your tooth.
Coconut oil also has antibacterial properties, which may allow it to offer relief for an abscessed tooth and sore gums.
Alternatively, you can try gargling with a mixture of warm water and salt, which may help promote wound healing and fight infection. If your face is swollen or your teeth are very painful, you can also put a cold compress against your face.
Another common home remedy for an abscess is apple cider vinegar. First, rinse out your mouth with warm water and then use a tablespoon of unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Gargle for up to twenty minutes twice daily. Apple cider vinegar has anti-inflammatory properties that may help reduce pain and inflammation.
How To Use A Black Tea Bag To Relieve Pain And Reduce Infection
- Simply wedge a warm, wet tea bag against the gum and surround the tooth.
- Keep the tea bag in place for 20-30 minutes
- Repeat the procedure every two hours during the day.
- Do not sleep with a tea bag in your mouth it is a choking risk.
If you have ever experienced an abscessed tooth, you know how painful it can be. This black tea home remedy begins to eliminate the infection while quickly relieving the pain and inflammation.
Let us know if youve tried the tea bag treatment for a toothache. Continue scrolling down to learn how the tea bag cure worked for other Earth Clinic readers.
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What Is The Icd
89 Other specified disorders of teeth and supporting structures | ICD-10-CM.
What is the most common oral infection?
8 Most Common Oral Infections
- Dental Caries. One of the most common oral infections, dental caries are the primary result of tooth decay.
- Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.
What antibiotics treat mouth infections?
Penicillin and amoxicillin: A common first choice, penicillin or amoxicillin are safe and effective for the majority of dental infections. Amoxicillin-clavulanate: While most infections respond well to amoxicillin or penicillin, some stubborn or more severe infections may respond better to amoxicillin-clavulanate.
Herbal Tea Or Fenugreek
Herbal teas or medicinal grade teas contain high concentrations of these herbs and enhance their anti-inflammatory and healing properties. Additionally, there is the Fenugreek tea commonly known to alleviate symptoms of dental infection. Another tea is the so-called goldenseal associated with turmeric and has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antibiotic properties that could be managed in a dental infection.
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How Is A Dental Abscess Diagnosed
Most dental abscesses are due to tooth decay. Many of the risk factors for tooth decay, or dental caries, are also the risk factors for dental abscesses:
- Poor oral health or hygiene
- Lack of dental care follow-up
- An unrepaired cracked tooth
- Methamphetamine abuse
Other risk factors include gum disease, periodontal disease, or a partially erupted tooth.
The painsometimes severe paincaused by abscessed teeth motivates people to seek help. The dentist will do a physical examination of the affected tooth. The tooth or tissues will be painful and sensitive to touch. The dentist will also look for swelling, redness, fever, and other symptoms such as facial redness, lockjaw, swollen lymph nodes, and difficulty swallowing. If there is trouble breathing or any mental changes, the infection may be a medical emergency.
The initial visit will usually include a panoramic X-ray or an X-ray of the tooth to confirm the diagnosis. In particular, an X-ray can help differentiate a tooth abscess from other conditions such as periodontitis. Depending on the symptoms, the dentist might also X-ray the head and neck to ensure the infection has not spread. No other tests are necessary.
If the infection is more complicated or the patient has a fever and other symptoms, the abscess will require antibiotics. The dentist or healthcare professional will perform a blood test to determine the nature of the infection and the body’s response to it. They might also order a CT or MRI scan.
You Experience Stomach Pain
You should call your doctor if you, your child, or your infant has a high fever. A high fever is defined as:
- adults: 103°F or higher
- children: 102.2°F or higher
- infants 3 months and older: 102°F or higher
- infants younger than 3 months: 100.4°F or higher
Get immediate medical attention if the fever is accompanied by:
A tooth becomes infected when bacteria gets into the tooth through a chip, crack, or cavity. Your risk factor for a tooth infection increases if you have:
- poor dental hygiene, including not brushing your teeth 2 times a day and not flossing
- a high sugar diet, including eating sweets and drinking soda
- dry mouth, which is often caused by aging or as a side effect of certain medications
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