Tooth abscess help!?!
Question: I just had my front four teeth capped and they look great! However, apparently my front right tooth was dead and is now abscessed.
There is a large (marble-size) abscess on my gum right above my front teeth. I noticed it Sunday and went to the dentist Monday. She prescribed antibiotics and I have an appointment with the endodontist in 2 weeks for a root canal.
My problem is that I want to know when the swelling will go down. The abscess seems to have gotten slightly bigger each day and it if it grows any more it is going to start to distort my face. It is also painful.
Should I call my dentist to see if it can be drained?? When do they do this? How much does it hurt (or not hurt)? Do the antibiotics make the swelling go down eventually? I'm just wondering if I'm being overly worked up and should be more patient.
Thanks!
Answers: I just had my front four teeth capped and they look great! However, apparently my front right tooth was dead and is now abscessed.
There is a large (marble-size) abscess on my gum right above my front teeth. I noticed it Sunday and went to the dentist Monday. She prescribed antibiotics and I have an appointment with the endodontist in 2 weeks for a root canal.
My problem is that I want to know when the swelling will go down. The abscess seems to have gotten slightly bigger each day and it if it grows any more it is going to start to distort my face. It is also painful.
Should I call my dentist to see if it can be drained?? When do they do this? How much does it hurt (or not hurt)? Do the antibiotics make the swelling go down eventually? I'm just wondering if I'm being overly worked up and should be more patient.
Thanks!
As a rule, it's better for you if the abcess drains itself. That way there is a lot less colateral damage to neighboring tissue. The antibiotic will help the body isolate the offending gerbie, and it will drain when the job is done. About the only thing you can do at this point to hurry the job along is apply heat. That might be a bit tough considering the position, but you could try hot drinks and hot packs on the outer upper lip. If you could figure a way to get it directly on the spot, that would be best- but I realize it's sore and on the gums, and would be a trick. The swelling will go down when it drains, and at that pont you could help things go faster using ice. It generally takes at least 3-4 days for antibiotics to swing things in your favor, so hopefully you will see some improvement in the next day or so. Antibiotics don't actually kill the bacteria so much as act as backup for the body's own immune system. It helps in your case to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of you via your bloodstream. If it actually does require incision to drain, you probably won't find the procedure any more comfortable. It would be difficult for the dentist to numb the area- there just isn't much room in the tissue to absorb any local anesthetic, so you would probably have to use a gel that would numb the gumline some. Then you would be risking the tooth you paid so much to save to begin with. And at that point, the endodontist might not be able to help save it at all. I know it's painful and miserable, I experienced this myself after a cap. It took about a week for it to drain. I warn you when it does, you will have the nastiest taste in your mouth you ever had, and there's not anything I found that really helps cut it. But the minute it does start to drain, the pain will nearly magically vanish and the swelling radically goes down. Good luck and just hang in there.
well, the abscess will not drain intself and you need to have it drained by the endodontist. it will continue to get bigger because its an infection on the roots of the tooth. If i was you, i would call the endodontist and have them see you as an emergency. They can not make you wait for 2 weeks if you are in that much pain. As far as the pain level getting it drained, you will get numb so most likely you wont feel it when they drill through the tooth to drain the abcess. they will open, drain the abcess, kill the nerve and medicate the roots. you should be good as new after.