Top 7 Abscessed Tooth Dangers
Dental Health Magazine
Categories: Gums, Jaw and Bones, Teeth
- Abscessed Tooth Complications and Dangers
- Abscessed Tooth Need to Be Prevented
- Tooth Abscess or Root Abscess – Infected Tooth
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You woke up in the morning, put your clothes on and went to take your small breakfast. Everything seemed to be the same except an unpleasant feeling in your oral cavity accompanied by a general discomfort. You went to the bathroom, found a mirror and opened the mouth.
That moment you realized what was the cause of the pain you had had while chewing, the cause of that bitter taste in the mouth, the sudden and unknown sensitivity of the teeth to hot and cold, and that unpleasant bad breath that could be easily felt the first moments of that day.
Dentists call it “tooth abscess“. At first abscess looks like a swelled area that turned red. It hurts and you can feel how the temperature increased. Abscess usually appears when a tooth cracks or develops a deep cavity and the pulp is exposed.
Then bacteria invades the center of the tooth and the pulp starts to die. As the tooth infection progresses, pockets of pus form at the root of the tooth. Sometimes a patient will not even know abscessed tooth exists until he has a routine exam and x-ray.
An abscessed tooth must be treated. If it is ignored then complications are inevitable. Here are some of really frequent dangers of tooth abscess:
1. Loss of the tooth – usually pulled off by the dentist because of abscess. It is a painful process and you need to avoid it.
2. Spread of infection to the jaw bone – mandible or maxilla are strongly effected by abscessed tooth infection.
3. Spread of infection to soft tissue – tooth abscess can cause facial cellulite or Ludwig’s angina, a rare disease that is accompanied by fever, deviation of the pharyngeal walls, an impending airway disaster, including muffled voice, inability to tolerate secretions, and protruding tongue.
4. Sinusitis – any infection or inflammation of the sinus cavities behind the nose and eyes. Symptoms vary according to which sinus cavity is infected.
5. Brain abscess – this very important organ is situated close to the infected area. Tooth abscess and abscesses in and around the nasal sinuses, face, ears, and scalp may work their way into the brain.
6. Blood infection – the blood flow increases to the trouble area. If the abscess ruptures into neighboring areas or permits the infectious agent to spill into the bloodstream, serious or fatal consequences are likely. It is called blood poisoning – a term commonly used to describe an infection that has spilled into the blood stream and spread throughout the body from a localized origin. Blood poisoning, known to physicians as septicemia, is also life threatening. In this case important organs are affected like heart, for example.
7. Death – indubitable it is the worst and dangerous complication of abscessed tooth and it must be avoided.
Now you know that the abscessed tooth danger is big enough and next time when you feel uneasiness and dental pain you should not ignore it and pay a visit to the dentist, or treat the dental caries at time. It also reduces the risk of tooth abscess and eases you from its dangers.
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Categories: Gums, Jaw and Bones, Teeth
My 95 year old mother was diagnosised with an abscessed tooth, while the dentist didn’t come right out and say the tooth s/b pulled that was the option. My mother’s health is fair, mentality… dementia and memory loss. She lives in a assisted living environment. How critical is this for someone of this age? Thank you for any advice you can give me.
I have an abscess bottom right, and it is so bad that the tooth is exposed to the root. I do not have money to have this fixed and secondly I am allergic to medicine . I presume the tooth needs to be pulled but what needs to be done to my gums where the root of tooth has popped through? Am I at risk for more problems? I use salt water to cleanse abscess, don’t eat hard foods on that side and use an ice pack at night for the pain.
Where should I go with out insurance or enough money to pay for procedure?
After reading all of these comments from people in tremendous pain from tooth problems I’m ashamed to be living in this country!! What is wrong with our health system that people have to put up with this? My heart goes out to all these people…. I am looking for answers because, I too, have an abscessed tooth – but can’t make up my mind to pay $3,000 for a root canal or have it pulled. As I read that people are in coma’s or have died from neglecting their tooth problems – I’m more convinced to have the darn thing pulled… but we should not have to worry about whether or not we have the funds to pay for these procedures… I recommend a dentistry school for people with limited funds. I had a crown put on years ago and the school was terrific. As we all age – we should move to Canada!!
Dental coverage is private coverage in Canada. WE have to pay dentist fees also
Sorry but the rich don’t wanna pay for helping the poor in their taxes. So what if they shipped your job off to another country. It’s cheaper labor for them. Too bad if that leaves you unemployed and unable to pay for care. They don’t really want you around anyway.
Can an abcess tooth cause a brain infection? My husband has an abcessed tooth and now he is hallucenating, and confused. The only reason i can think of for this behavior is that maybe the infection spread to his brain. He is in the hospital, but they say they cant figure out what is wrong. Please let me know if this is possible.
I have been reading a lot about tooth issues, I believe I have an abscessed tooth, as well. I don’t know where you all are from in the US, but I am headed to the Community Hospital tomorrow. I have tried the aspirin train for like 5 days now, and it’s no longer helping. I know what it’s like not to be able to afford this, and yes it’s very sad in America to have to deal with these issues, imagine the more serious ones in life. If you have any community hospitals that take poor and un-insured, like Metrohealth does here, they will help you. Here they go by what you make…or don’t make.
i had an abscess tooth and now i think it’s affecting my breathing it’[s like im breathing but im not i can’[t feel myself breathing it’s scary