Infected Tooth: Is This Your Case?
We bring you a common case at dental clinics: what starts off as a small discomfort ends up being an intense pain and then the question arises:
“Do I have an infected tooth?”
Infected tooth: Symptoms
When we have an infected tooth it can show up in different ways. If you have discomfort or even pain and want to clear up “How do I know if I have an infected tooth?”, our advice as specialists is to recommend that you contact the clinic as soon as possible to arrange a visit. Even so, some symptoms that may make you suspect it could be your case would be the following:
-Pus at the base of the tooth.
-Inflammation or bleeding around the tooth.
-Sharp pain when chewing or sensitivity to cold.
-Ear or jaw pain if it’s the wisdom tooth.
-A swollen face from an infected tooth, especially from the wisdom teeth.
Treatment for an infected tooth
As on other occasions, we want to be able to resolve your doubts and give you all the possible information, so some frequent questions at the practice and that tend to be common questions would be some like the following.
How to cure an infected tooth?
For the treatment of an infected tooth we have to treat the infection; in the event that it’s caused by a cavity it will be necessary to do a filling, but if that cavity is very large it will be necessary to kill the nerve, since the nerve of the tooth is infected. In many conditions it’s necessary to give an antibiotic for the infected tooth, the most frequent being amoxicillin for an infected tooth. In the event that the tooth is very infected or it isn’t viable to keep it in the mouth, as with the wisdom teeth, on many occasions the treatment will be extraction; it’s common to end up with the infected tooth removed.
What happens when a tooth gets infected?
When a tooth gets infected the first lesion that appears is a cavity, so it’s normal at the start not to have symptoms and to find an infected tooth without pain.
What can cause an infected tooth? In addition to the cavity there’s another reason why the tooth gets infected. The second option may be that the tooth is fine and healthy but the infection is of the gum around the tooth because the patient has periodontal disease or pyorrhoea.
What to do with an infected tooth? Well, even if we don’t have symptoms initially, if we see something strange the best thing is to go as soon as possible to have it checked so that that infection doesn’t get worse and the treatment becomes more complex.
What to take for an infected tooth?
As we said in the point where we explained the treatment for a tooth, on many occasions it’s necessary to take an antibiotic for the infected tooth and the most frequent is amoxicillin.
In addition, how to relieve the pain of an infected tooth? To relieve the pain it’s necessary to take painkillers for the pain such as paracetamol.
And how to reduce the inflammation of an infected tooth? The most frequent thing is to prescribe anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation, or even having to carry out the drainage of the infected tooth.
Can a tooth with a root canal get infected?
Even though we have a tooth with a root canal, the tooth can get infected if the root canal isn’t well sealed and therefore it would be necessary to do a re-treatment of the root canal, that is, kill the nerve again.
Can an infected tooth inflame the lymph nodes?
Yes. If we don’t treat the infected tooth in time it can give us the consequences of an infected tooth: general symptoms such as fever, inflammation of the lymph nodes or sinusitis from an infected tooth, which is why it’s necessary to treat cavities in time so that the infection doesn’t spread through the rest of the body.
Can it be necessary to remove an infected tooth?
As we’ve explained above, if we delay in carrying out a proper treatment the extraction of the infected tooth will be necessary. Although online we can find home remedies for an infected tooth, the reality is that if the cavity is very large and has reached the gum or the nerve there are times when it isn’t possible to cure it and it has to be extracted, which is why it’s so necessary to go to the dental clinic as soon as possible to try to save our tooth and make it last a long time.
What to do when an extracted tooth gets infected?
When they extract a tooth for us it may be that the wound gets infected, which is why it’s so important to keep to the instructions they’ve given us. But how to tell whether a tooth extraction is infected? How does an infected tooth wound look? Pain or inflammation can appear in the wound area. On the internet we can find images of an infected tooth extraction in which you can see how the area is usually red and even with a little pus. It will be important to go to the clinic so that they can give us a proper treatment to clean the wound and give us an antibiotic if necessary.
How does a tooth extraction get infected?
Once they’ve carried out a tooth extraction for us it may happen that the wound gets infected, and how to tell whether a tooth extraction is infected? It may happen that the pain persists or increases after the extraction, which is why it’s important to follow the hygiene recommendations they’ve given us at the dental clinic and, on many occasions, take the appropriate medication such as antibiotics. We may observe the wound inflamed, with blood or pus, or even have a fever. With all those symptoms it will be necessary to go to the dental clinic as soon as possible to carry out a proper treatment so that the infection doesn’t spread.
From the Clínica Dental Doctores Tarazona we want to inform you of all your doubts and put within your reach the necessary information about your treatment in the event of having an infected tooth, but if you have more doubts or want an appointment with our specialists don’t hesitate to contact us.
