Dental infections usually occur due to broken teeth, trauma or cavities that, when neglected, become large. An advanced cavity or tooth breakage destroys the tooth enamel and dentin, and can spread to the dental pulp, better known as the tooth canal. From that moment on, bacterial contamination occurs in the space previously occupied by dental pulp tissue. At this initial moment, inflammation of the pulp tissue begins to occur.
With the evolution of this process, the death of this tissue occurs, leading to pulp necrosis and thus the infectious process is installed inside the tooth. This causes the bacteria to spread, and when it does this, it will reach the tip of the root, generating the so-called apical periodontitis, as the natural response of our body to the this bacterial aggression, an “army” of defense cells outside the root is preventing the infection from spreading to other organs and tissues. When these bacteria from inside the canal manage to overcome the root and reach other tissues, they win this “battle”, and a periodontal abscess is installed, where we will have pus and fistula formation.
The signs and symptoms of an abscess can be:
* In a silent way where it does not show painful symptoms.
* Moderate pain or severe, throbbing pain.
* Swelling of the gums or face.
* Pain when biting or chewing.
* Dental mobility.
* Fever.
* Tender or swollen lymph nodes in the neck under the jaw.
* Bad taste in the mouth, due to the rupture of the abscess.
You should immediately seek professional help from your dentist, who will carry out a clinical and radiographic evaluation, in order to arrive at a diagnosis and carry out the appropriate treatment for the situation.
In order to eliminate the infectious process of your tooth, the dentist must extract the dental element if it is not possible to keep it in the mouth or carry out the root canal treatment, which aims to maintain the dental element in the oral cavity, which have been damaged by extensive caries, trauma or have infections. The procedure consists of removing all structures that have been contaminated within the tooth canals, followed by their disinfection and sealing.
Antibiotics should be administered during the abscess phase to delay or reduce local infection. Since there are bacteria outside the tooth canal and this is a very vascularized region, the antibiotic becomes of great value. Another procedure can also help to shorten the infectious process, which is the drainage of the abscess, where the pus is removed from the site.
Dental infections, in addition to being often painful, when left untreated can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing problems such as bacterial endocarditis, for example. Because of this, it is very important that you get seen by a dentist if you break any tooth. Make periodic appointments with your dentist, maintain correct oral hygiene. Remember prevention is the best medicine. Make sure you are maintaining proper oral hygiene and also that you are regularly seeing your dentist at least twice a year for proper deep cleaning and X-rays, which can catch breaks in teeth that you might not yet be able to see and feel.