Abscess Tooth or Worse?!

Abscess Tooth or Worse?

I have had a chipped tooth on my lower right side for about 6 months now and around then it started hurting to chew. About the last month though it seems to have worsened as if I chew anything on that side the tooth hurts really bad. Until yesterday the pain would subside after a few hours...last night I didnt get much sleep due to it and if I look in my mouth and take a Q-Tip I can actually push on my gum at the bottom of my mouth and feel a pressure in the bottom of my affected tooth. I am assuming I have an abscess. I am to call a dentist first thing tomorrow and check it out....my bigest worry is that my mouth has been swollen since last night, not in a huge manner, but I can feel a discomfort and pressure on my tooth even when still. The discomfort starts near my chin and goes to the back of my jaw near my neck, it doesnt hurt just enought to remind me constantly. I do feel queezy and fatigued, granted I had about 4 hours of sleep...what should I make of it? Please help!

As a dentist I can tell you that you seem to have an extremely serious problem on your hands. From your description it does sound like you have an abscess (infected tooth). If the pain is severe you may want to consider taking a trip to your local ER. An abscess tooth is a very serious problem that can lead to possible fatal complications should the infection spread, if spread to the neck this can cause upper airway obstructions and can also spread to the heart and brain become even more serious. Even if you do go to your local ER you will still need to see a dentist ASAP. Either way your ER doctor or dentist will need to start you on antibiotic therapy and some sort of pain medication. Until then you might want to try Motrin/Advil (Ibuprofen) as this will help with the pain and inflammation. Also try using a COLD compresses, NEVER use heat as this can cause the infection to worsen and spread more rapidly and actually make the pain become much more severe. PLEASE see a dentist or ER physician as soon as possible so that you can be started on antibiotics to start fighting the infection. Good luck!