July 1st, 2011
If you are experiencing sudden pain in your mouth that is impairing your ability to eat and drink properly then it might be that you have developed an abscess in one of your teeth. This can be particularly painful and will need to be dealt with so that the problem is unable to spread to the rest of the mouth and require more drastic measures.
Abscesses can have a variety of causes. If a cavity has gone untreated then it might be allowing germs to enter the interior of a tooth and causing the pulp inside the tooth to become infected. This can be common in teeth in elderly patients too, who are more likely to develop small cracks in their teeth that can allow compromising germs inside.
A one-off accident that has affected the mouth can also lead to a tooth abscess if the pulp has been damaged and infected and not cleaned out properly. Those with weaker immune systems might be susceptible to this eventuality. Swelling in the face can occur in severe cases of tooth abscesses.
Making an appointment to see your City of London dentist is crucial in sorting out a tooth abscess. They are trained to deal with such things and can remedy the situation to your satisfaction. It is possible that a tooth abscess will be so severe that it needs the tooth to be removed. More likely is that root canal treatment will be needed in order to clear the interior of the tooth of its damaging infection. The risk of tooth abscesses is just another reason to go and see your dentist every six months for a check up.
April 28th, 2011
You can never really tell when an abscess is going to strike in London W1. We do the best we can to maintain a high level of oral hygiene by stuffing our bathroom cabinet with a range of products, but we are seldom prepared when it comes to a dental emergency, and when an abscess develops in the mouth, it’s the biggest dental emergency of all. Where possible, that bathroom cabinet should also contain a range of painkillers, antibiotics and herbal remedies for such an event. Most importantly, you should always have access to a telephone, because an abscess can get out of hand extremely quickly; it poisons the blood and gets into the brain, and then you can have a life threatening situation on your hands. If you can treat a mild abscess with remedies to hand, all the better, but having an abscess in the first place can indicate that something is going wrong around the tooth such as tooth decay, and any treatment does not guarantee that the problem will not surface again. Other than having root canal treatment to remove infection and decay, the only way to ensure there is no repeat of an abscess is to have the tooth removed.
March 3rd, 2010
A City of London dentist has given some good advice on how to deal with the problems in dental care that involve infections, and the pain and inconvenience that comes with them. A simple solution of antibiotics followed by a new regime of oral hygiene is a good start. It would be safe to assume that the old regime is not working, as most problems of infection in the mouth are caused by an insufficient method of cleaning the teeth. An abscess is generally caused by bacteria seeping into a cut on the gums, this in turn is the result of another gum infection that softens the tissue and makes it prone to abrasive cuts as a result of vigorous brushing. Just fixing the problem won’t usually make it go away, it will keep coming back. Tooth ache is also generally caused by an infection contracted in much the same manner. Gum disease is the long term effect of a lax regime in oral care, and it is the basis of most if not all of the problems we have with our teeth. The best way forward is to start cleaning out teeth the correct way, this will keep bacteria and acid production to a minimum and that in itself will be go a long way to keeping infection at bay. Gingivitis is a prolonged disease of the gums and is not curable, the best we can do is to keep it from progressing to a higher level, brushing throughout the day, flossing and rinsing after all meals and snacks is a good way of achieving this. It doesn’t have be a mouthwash every time, just drinking small amounts of water will stop acid build up, and chewing gum will also help to neutralise acid build up, and in turn tartar build up around the base of the teeth.
February 17th, 2010
Tooth abscesses are extremely painful and unpleasant things that can be entirely prevented with more effective teeth cleaning. Proper brushing and flossing can usually prevent dental infections that cause abscesses but if it is already too late then it is imperative that you see a dentist as soon as possible, as a burst abscess can cause further health problems.
Abscesses occur when tooth enamel has been eroded by plaque acid. When the dental cavity penetrates to the centre of the tooth, bacteria can get inside and cause an infection that surrounds the dental nerve causing a toothache. The body’s natural response to this is to create more white blood cells to bombard the infection and kill it. These white blood cells mix with the infected matter to form a substance called pus. This builds up in tissue around the tooth either beating the infection or making it larger and larger until it can no longer withstand the pressure and bursts. This can then spread the infection around the mouth and even into the bloodstream causing heart problems and other complications.
Abscesses can be treated by dentists who can also offer relief from the pain that they can cause, which can often be extreme. Obviously the best cure for an abscess is prevention but dentists can also carry out minor surgery or prescribe antibiotics to defeat the infection.
If tooth abscesses are not treated by a London W1 dentist and left to get worse they can also be responsible for the actual death of the tooth as the infection will eventually kill the dental nerve. This may result in tooth loss and many further associated problems.
January 10th, 2010
An abscess around a tooth is a painful experience, and can take a week or so of treatment before it is possible for your dentist to deal with the root cause. Any kind of infection is damaging to the gums and often it leaves the gums more vulnerable to future infections. Bacteria is generally the main felon, it forms in the mouth by attaching itself to food particles left between the teeth. This is of course avoidable, says the Central London dentist, by a simple regime and an awareness of the problem in most cases. The first line of treatment is a course of penicillin or a similar drug if you’re allergic, this can take anything from a few days to over a week to bring down the swelling and kill off the infection. The tooth will need to be removed if the infection is reoccurring on the same tooth, but in most cases the tooth can be saved and further occurrences avoided by simply seeing the practice hygienist and taking more time to floss, rinse and remove trapped food after eating. The problem is that because we don’t feel the bacteria working away in our mouths we tend to not be too careful about our teeth, but even healthy teeth are susceptible to infections and gum damage from the bacteria. We need bacteria to enable our food to be broken down and become digestible, but not clearing food particles from those hidden gaps in our teeth is like leaving the washing up for a few days. Would you leave a plate of half eaten food in the kitchen? Your answer is no, so why leave food in the mouth to rot and cause infection, doesn’t make sense does it? So, next time you have a meal think about that bacteria working away your mouth afterwards.
May 9th, 2009
If a person maintains a good oral hygiene, tooth abscess will unlikely to occur. Tooth abscess is an infection of one tooth or the root of the tooth. If you have tooth abscess, it is important that you consult and seek treatment with your West London dentist to prevent spreading the infection to other teeth.
Tooth abscess has several causes, including:
• Existing tooth infection – when a dental procedure was performed on your tooth such as filling, root canal or crown, the infection was already in the tooth. The dental work failed to kill the bacteria which will later turned into tooth abscess.
• Weak immune system – a tooth abscess may be caused by a germ resident in the tooth and a weak immune system may have failed to fight the infection brought about by this germ.
• Age-related – as a person ages, his tooth weakens which allows a germ to enter and caused infection.
Your West London dentist may able to determine a tooth abscess because of signs and symptoms which may include:
• Persistent toothache at the site of the tooth infection
• Swelling of the tooth
• Facial swelling in cases that tooth abscess penetrated to the bone and started draining into tissues surrounding the tooth.
Unchecked tooth abscess may cause complications such as fistulae, facial disfigurement and falling teeth. Hence, it is important that tooth abscess should be treated as early as possible. Several treatment options for tooth abscess are:
• Use of antibiotics to kill the germ that caused infection
• Root canal treatment which involves drilling of the infected area, cleansing and resealing the infected tooth.
• Tooth extraction to clean the infected area
