Tooth infections affecting a small section of your dentition can send ripples of pain across your mouth, face, or your entire body. If left untreated, the infection can degenerate into more serious dental problems, or spread across various parts of your body, leaving behind a trail of havoc.
Tooth infection, also called a tooth abscess, refers to a full sac of pus, resulting from a bacterial infection that builds up inside the mouth, around tooth roots, or between a tooth and its gums. The bacterial infection may arise from serious tooth decay, lingering cavities, mouth or tooth injuries, gum disease, or a previous dental work that was ineffective. People who practice poor dental hygiene or consume sugar excessively in foods have a much higher risk of developing abscessed teeth.
COMMON TELLTALE SIGNS OF TOOTH INFECTION
Most people who come to us with tooth infection often complain about common symptoms such as severe, sharp, and piercing toothache that persist for a long time, increasing sensitivity to hot and cold food or drinks, swollen tissues around the gums, cheek, face, and neck, a persistent bitter taste, short burst of putrid mouth odor (which usually happens when the infection site is ruptured), and fever.
If the infection site is ruptured, you need to get urgent medical attention at our offices to prevent the infection from spreading to other parts of your body. If the infection spreads, your immune system may become overstretched, leaving you more vulnerable to a wide array of ailments, from fever/chills to extreme drowsiness, severe body pains, etc. To boot, the infection can spread to your brain, altering your mood, consciousness, or vision.
HOW BEST TO HANDLE TOOTH INFECTIONS
The first thing you need to know about tooth infections is that there’s hardly anyone that has been able to treat it successfully at home with home remedies or over-the-counter antibiotics. Such remedies may provide temporary relief, but the infection might surface with even more serious complications down the line because it wasn’t properly treated the first time.
A tooth infection is a highly intricate situation that can quickly degenerate into serious complications, so it’s best to visit our Long Island dental office and leave the infection to our well-versed dentists.