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Tooth Infection is a slow process resulting in dental cavities or dental caries. This tooth infection normally occurs when disease causing bacteria slowly makes a kind of acid that entirely eats away at a tooth. This may even cause wisdom tooth infection like tooth loss if not treated properly.

Tooth infection can be easily prevented by regular flossing and brushing your teeth, and by consulting your dental surgeon for cleaning and check ups, also by avoiding taking foods that are very high in sugar

Tooth infection can cause the bacteria in the mouth to circulate in the blood stream to infect the heart valve, causing bacterial endocarditic, most especially in people who may have had rheumatic heart disease when they were young. This condition affects and weakens the heart valves, making them susceptible to infection. And those with artificial heart valves are even more prone to infection originating from tooth decay or infection in the mouth.

Causes of Tooth Infection

A tooth infection is usually caused by a dead tooth. Everything inside the dead tooth breaks down and liquefies and there is nothing to fight bacterial growth. This mixture of living bacteria and rotten tissue, leaks out of the end of the tooth. The dead tissue irritates the surrounding bone and the living bacteria try to invade the body. Fortunately, with a healthy immune system, the body fights back. However, sometimes neither the bacteria nor the body wins and a long term problem occur.

Combination of food and bacteria causes tooth decay. Clear substance which is sticky in nature called plaque, containing disease causing bacteria always forms on your gums and teeth as this disease causing bacteria feed in the food that you eat with high sugar content, this creates acid to destroy the teeth. 20 minutes after eating this acid will start attacking your teeth and over a period of time acid will completely destroy the tooth enamel, resulting in tooth decay. Any dental infection can cause serious problems and should be addressed as soon as possible.

Types of Tooth Infections

A tooth infection can be very painful. And there are several basic types.

The first type is an infection inside your tooth, in the living pulp tissue. This comes from tooth decay or severe irritation. Inside your tooth, the natural defense mechanism breaks down because there is no room for antibodies and white blood cells. And antibiotics are of no help here either. Therefore, when your tooth becomes infected, it will not recover, and the pulp tissue will die. The treatment for this condition is a root canal treatment. With a root canal, the soft tissue inside your tooth is removed and replaced with a sealer material that keeps infection from seeping back into the tooth.

There is a second type of tooth infection which occurs in the bone around the end of the tooth. You will get what is called a tooth abscess. An abscess may or may not be painful. When bacteria are in the bone, your body can fight them with antibodies and white blood cells. The problem is that there is a constant supply of new bacteria to the region from the dead tissue inside your tooth. Your body may or may not be successful in walling off the infected area, so an abscess can go on for years without hurting. But the risk of damage is great. The abscess can grow and spread, and it can even cause the root of your tooth to be gradually dissolved. Treatment, again, would be a root canal procedure.

A subdivision of this type would be a wisdom tooth infection, which occurs in the surrounding gum and is treated with a tooth extraction.

Signs and Symptoms of Tooth Infection

One of the first signs that a tooth infection is out of control is the presence of pus. Pus is a thick yellowish white material made up of living and dead bacteria, white blood cells, and dead tissue. Pus can cause a foul taste and foul smell.

When you chew something you feel pain. You can have bad breath. Fever can be possible in this disease. You may feel bitter taste of the mouth.

Most infections cause dental pain but many remain silent and painless for years. You can have this tooth problem without feeling the dental abscess and without a toothache. This why, it is important to see a dentist regularly.

Tooth Infection Control

1. Look for swelling of the gums or cheeks as an early sign of infection. Some discoloration may be present as well.
2. Rinse the mouth three or four times daily with a mixture of 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 liter warm water.
3. Apply cold packs to the cheek to minimize the pain.
4. Administer oral antibiotics immediately if evacuation is delayed. Before leaving for your trip, consult your physician for antibiotics used for tooth infections.
5. Evacuate immediately to a dentist or physician.

Tooth Infection Diagnosis

Tooth infection diagnosis can be done by your dentist by various ways.

• By taking X rays of your mouth and teeth.
• Using small mirror and pointed tool, examining your teeth
• By asking your past medical and dental problems.

Treatment of Tooth Infection

To eliminate tooth infection, treatment is necessary. Antibiotics may be helpful for removal of infection. Do not place aspirin directly over the tooth; it increases the irritation, which can cause of mouth ulcer. However, antibiotics kill the invading bacteria but don’t go inside the dead tooth so the open canals provide a safe area for the bacteria to hide.

A dental antibiotic can not cure a tooth infection because of this. Many bacteria are resistance to antibiotics which makes even small dental infections potentially serious since a small problem can grow out of control. Early treatment is important.

Root canal therapy is another treatment procedure to preserve the teeth. In this therapy the infected tissue in the central part of the tooth pulp is removed.

Prevention of Tooth Infection

To prevent continued infection, the area is then sealed. Sometimes Surgery is needed to remove the infected material from the bony tissue around the root. Some times the root canal therapy is not successful in that case the tooth usually has to be pulled. Antibiotics can help only for temporarily relief .It is not possible that tooth infection can be permanently treated without root canal therapy or the removal of the tooth.

Categories: Teeth