Our Family Dentistry Services Can Treat a Dental Abscess

If you have a tooth infection, our family dentistry services can treat it before it becomes too painful.  Small cavities are easy to treat and will only cause discomfort.  When cavities become larger they can cause a full tooth infection which impacts the dental pulp and roots, often requiring a root canal.  Both dental treatments are fairly straightforward and done without the patient experiencing too much pain.  If they are not treated, the infection can spread and cause a dental abscess.A dental abscess is extremely painful.  An abscess is a tooth infection that has spread from the tooth to the gums and even into the jaw bone and face bone.  It can make the face and neck swell and become red, create puss, make the area painful to the touch, and cause the patient to have flu like symptoms.  With a dental abscess, a persons’ entire mouth, face and jaw can be in pain along with feeling sick from the flu.  It is very uncomfortable and requires immediate treatment.  If you have any of these symptoms, it is important to call and schedule a dentist appointment right away.During the dental exam, we will identify where the infection is located and create a plan for treatment.  If the infection is deep inside of the tooth, we will likely x-ray it.  We are then able to treat the abscess by draining it and removing the infected puss.  If the infection has spread all the way into the neck or floor of the mouth, it may require dental surgery in order to drain the infection.  We will often prescribe antibiotics to provide the body with additional tools to fight the infection.  Our family dentistry services are aimed at treating the immediate infection and pain first, then finding and removing any lingering less severely infected areas.Often times when someone has a dental abscess it is not an isolated problem. When a tooth has become infected to the point of becoming an abscess, there can be other cavities or gum disease that need to be treated.  It is important to remove cavities, bacteria, infected dental pulp or roots from the mouth so that a full recovery can take place and the patient can avoid other infections from spreading in the mouth.  We provide solutions for pain management to make the process easier.Our team is sensitive to the trauma that a dental abscess can cause and will work to treat it, remove the infection, and stop the pain right away.  Family dentistry services are more than simply treating problems after they have started.  We want to help patients to stay healthy so that an abscess never forms in the first place.  Regular dental exams, twice a year, will help with this process because it allows us to remove excessive bacteria before it causes a problem.  It also allows us to remove cavities before they can get infected and spread.Patients can improve their oral health at home by brushing after every meal, flossing daily, and using an antiseptic mouthwash.  These simple steps can prevent bacteria from growing and spreading.  We also recommend that patients avoid tobacco products, as they increase the risk of getting a cavity.