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Ask the Dental Experts Our philosophy is to help our patients achieve and maintain exceptional dental health. We work hard to make sure that our level of care is deserving of our patients’ respect and confidence. Our tradition of preventive dentistry is the basis for all service and care in our practice. We welcome all questions and comments regarding dentistry in the hope that we increase your dental "IQ" and help you make better dental health decisions.Hello,
My lower right molar has a very large filling. I have an abscess and a boil has developed on the outside of my gum. Two courses of antibiotic treatment have not eradicated the infection. The abscess has caused no pain whatsoever and my dentist wants to do an extraction. I refused this and asked if root canal treatment could be considered, but he said "no". I am an NHS patient who resides in the UK. Could something be done to keep the tooth, albeit it probably is "dead". I would be grateful if you could give me an answer to my query.
Either solution could be right --- this is a common finding around an abscessed tooth. Root canal treatment is generally the best treatment, but there are absolutely situations in which the tooth cannot be saved. Root fracture, advanced decay, periodontal breakdown, and some other situations can make a tooth completely non-restorable. Cannot tell from afar, sorry..
Chuck Campbell, DDS
Dale Brant, DDS
(713) 795-5905
Labels: abscess, root canal, root fracture
Ask The DentistThe Cosmetic Dentistry Center in the Houston Medical Center Dental Group offers the full range of cosmetic dentistry procedures and general dentistry practices. Every patient is treated as a genuinely unique individual with his or her own set of unique and specific needs. We like to say that no two smiles are exactly alike, so when you come to our office, you can be confident we provide your smile with a restorative or cosmetic solution that is specifically created just for you.
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My gum was feeling quite hard. I looked in the mirror to see what was wrong. I noticed that one particular area was red, with what looks like an underlying yellow pimple. Is it possible that I have a gumboil or an abscess?
I have a dental checkup in 2 weeks time, but in the meantime, can I buy anything from the pharmacy for it?
It’s a little uncomfortable but not painful, as yet!!
Thanks,
Lesley
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Hi, Lesley.
You are probably describing either an abscessed tooth that has not yet hurt you or a fractured root. There are several possible treatments, depending on exactly what is going on. You might make it the 2 weeks before your appointment, but you might want to be seen sooner, as this can flare up overnight at any time and be painful. He will be placing you on antibiotics sometime in the course of treating the problem, but you should probably be seen first.
Chuck Campbell, DDSDale J. Brant, DDS713-795-5905Labels: abscess, dental examination, gumboil
Last month we got a call from a lady named Stacey who was suffering from an intermittent and annoying toothache. The pain did not appear to have any definite pattern or cause. Sometimes her tooth would ache while she drank anything cold or hot. At other times, she would feel intense pain while chewing foods, although the constituency of the food (hard or soft) did not appear to matter. Then, at other times, she would eat an entire meal with no symptoms of a toothache at all. She decided to call us when she felt a dull, throbbing pain in the side of her mouth during the workday, making her irritable and causing her to have difficulty focusing on her job.
It may surprise you to learn that what Stacey experienced is not unusual. Many people assume that a toothache is just that---a tooth that aches with intense, chronic pain all the time. This is not always the case. Many people suffer from intermittent toothache symptoms that linger for hours, and then disappear as suddenly as they came. If this happens to you, you may find it hard to function in even the simplest areas of life, because you never know when the next round of pain is going to begin.
Toothache symptoms should be taken seriously, no matter how mild they may be at times, and no matter how irregularly they appear to come and go. This is because toothaches almost always originate deep within the tooth and indicate that something is wrong with the root itself. This is common with people who had silver-mercury fillings years ago, which have since fallen out undetected. By the time decay sets in to the point that toothache symptoms begin to felt, a root canal is often the only course of action. If left untreated, a dying root can become abscessed, and create an even worse condition.
In the case of Stacey, the culprit was an old silver-mercury filling that had fallen out of one of her teeth. Our intraoral camera showed very clearly where this had reopened the cavity and allowed infection to set into the root pocket. Even though the symptoms of her toothache were relatively mild and sporadic, the intermittent severity was deceptive. When a tooth root dies, it may not hurt significantly until the very last, and at that point, a severe infection or abscess is usually well underway.
Fortunately, this was not the case with Stacey. We had detected the problem soon enough to treat her with a simple root canal and dental crown. She has since reported all pain has left her mouth, and the new implant is not even noticeable in comparison to her natural teeth.
If you are a persona like Stacey who suffers from intermittent toothache symptoms, please call our office as soon as possible. Waiting until the last minute can result in very severe complications. Proactive, early treatment will deal with both the cause and the symptoms with much less pain and cost to you in the long run.Labels: abscess, emergency toothache treatment, intermittent toothache, pain in tooth, root canal, toothache symptoms
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