Tooth abscess

This real x-ray picture of a tooth abscess - my tooth abscess - clearly shows the sac of pus in the area marked as ROOT ABSCESS.  Part of one of the roots had been eaten by the infection of the tooth abscess, also marked.  The fistulae, pus drainage line (also marked in this picture), occurred in this instance along the side of the tooth - the pus from the root abscess was being forced out into the mouth, under the physical pressure caused by the growing infection of the root abscess.

  You can also see from this x-ray picture of my tooth, that the tooth was sitting proud - forced up a fraction by the pressure of the pus sac underneath it.  The pus from the root abscess, having made it's way into the mouth, could easily cause bad breath as well, as the pus is quite stinky.  The root canals and top of the tooth appear much brighter in the x-ray picture, in comparison to the other teeth, as the tooth had root canal work - which fills in the roots with a denser substance - and the crown that is capping the tooth is again made of a much denser material than that of tooth.  With only a 25% to 80% chance of saving the tooth and then at a cost of nearly $3000 and much time and discomfort, I took the easy way out and had the tooth extracted - at this stage in the tooth abscess process, the tooth abscess is normally unbearably painful - unable to sleep, unable to find relief, with any pressure on the tooth causing horrific pain.

However, as a side note, if you had your crown put on for purely cosmetic reasons, your sucess rate for retreatment maybe around 90%, and if your crown doesn't have to be replaced, then the cost may be as low as around $1500.

It should be noted that the explanation of, and points of reference in the xray, are not definitive in a diagnosis. A dark spot on an xray could also mean cancer, an abscess, or many other things. Your dentist makes the diagnosis of tooth abscess based on your xray AND your presenting symptoms.

Tooth abscess Definition

Tooth abscesses

Tooth abscess causes

Tooth abscess Symptoms

Tooth abscess Treatment

Tooth abscess Pictures

A tooth abscess is normally not seeable, except as a lump - sometimes - as the tooth abscess exists under the skin and can only be seen, as such, by X-rays. Sometimes you may see a picture of a face with part of it swollen, again you are seeing the swelling under the skin, not actually seeing the tooth abscess as such - some of the swellings can be through the lymph glands trying to take the infection caused by the tooth abscess. On X-ray, the tooth abscess can be seen by a trained eye. Most pictures of a tooth abscess simply show a drawing of a tooth, a cavity leading into the soft pulp, and a colored area denoting the infection.

Tooth abscess antibiotics

Tooth abscess and Death

Tooth abscess Complications

Avoid and or minimize tooth abscess complications by treating the tooth abscess as early and as professionally as you can.

A complication of tooth abscess, is that the tooth abscess infection, if left untreated, will likely do one of two things:

It may create an eruption (fistulae) through the skin, with the pus leaking and draining out into the mouth or through the cheek, or it may erupt into the bone area and travel along the path of least resistance, infecting the surrounding tissue and possibly damaging nerves, as it travels. Either is pretty gross.

When the eruption occurs, the tooth abscess may initially have it's symptoms greatly relieved, as the pressure caused by the pus has been relieved. It is, however, short lived, as the spreading infection can create much severer symptoms, such as pain, as more healthy tissue and bone become compromised by the germs.

Some more tooth abscess complications that have been very much explained already: Facial Disfigurement as it eats away the facial bones; teeth falling out as the tooth abscess destroys the jaw holding the tooth; the picture is pretty gruesome.

Tooth abscess Home Remedy

This tooth abscess home remedy is for the root abscess of the tooth, as shown in the diagram above. This home remedy for tooth abscess may not be suitable for a pulp abscess of the tooth, as shown in the diagram above.

Okay, you may have heard about several home remedies for tooth abscess - holding salt water in your mouth for about 10 minutes at a time, packing the area of the tooth abscess with tea bags for a day - are two of the common home remedies for a tooth abscess.

Now I am going to share with you my TOOTH ABSCESS HOME REMEDY. Yes, that tooth abscess is problematic, it can take weeks to get into to see a dentist, often the dentist is very expensive. So, as I wasn't prepared to let the dentist pull my tooth out, I had to figure something else out.

My home remedy for tooth abscess are antibacterial Strepsil throat lozenges. Cheap, fast and easy to obtain.

The trick was to put the Strepsil next to the gum area of the tooth with the abscess, so that the antibacterial effect is as close to the infection as one can get it.

With this tooth abscess home remedy, it is important to keep the lozenge in position for several hours, without sucking it.

Another requirement of this home remedy for tooth abscess is to relocate the lozenge to the other side of the tooth abscess about every half hour. So, it's between the lip and gum for half the time and for the other half, the lozenge is between the tongue and the gum.

Relief with this tooth abscess home remedy should occur within about 12 to 24 hours and I normally keep replacing the strepsils as they dissolve away over this time. I then use the lozenges on and off until I feel the tooth abscess has been completely controlled.

This home remedy for tooth abscess wont likely kill an infection in the tooth, but it will likely put an end to the tooth abscess, or greatly reduce the tooth abscess, for a while, at least from what I have experienced anyway.

One problem I have encountered in using this home remedy for tooth abscess, is the skin peeling inside the mouth, where the lozenge had been allowed to dissolve. A good tip with this home remedy for tooth abscess is to use the lozenges that are just the dual acting antibacterial ones - I've found that the more complicated the lozenge, e.g. with menthol added, the harder it is on the mouth.

Another problem I found with this home remedy for tooth abscess, is that when using the complicated lozenge, it appeared to upset the tooth above it. It may have been referent pain ( pain that is caused in a healthy tooth, because it's nerves are picking up the pain from another tooth - the nerves of the various teeth are very close together as they run back to the brain, so some excitation of nerves can take place) rather than a problem caused by the lozenges, but I felt that I should mention it just in case.

Yet another problem, if the tooth abscess is left too long, the above home remedy may only partially work - the symptom of pain and swelling may be quickly relieved - but the tooth abscess has possibly gained a strong foothold that is not so easy to get rid of. A visit to the dentist may still be needed.

The longest I've let a tooth abscess go for, was to the stage where it felt like the tooth was about to explode. The home remedy worked quickly, as expected, but it took about a week for the tooth to settle to the point where I felt it was definitely not a problem. The whole tooth area remained painful and sore over those seven days, but nothing like it had been. To help the home remedy a bit, I also used Brufen (iso brufen) to relieve the pain and reduce the inflammation after I knew the infection appeared to be well controlled by the home remedy.

I estimate the success of this tooth abscess home remedy at about 67%. So if the tooth continues to generate pain or discomfort for more than a week, assume the tooth abscess is still there. After a week, it is likely that a small part of the tooth root has been eaten by the abscess. Tooth abscess antibiotics should be sought urgently. For peace of mind, always consult a dentist ASAP at first sign of a tooth abscess. This home remedy does not appear to have a high enough success rate to forgo the dental visit.

Tooth abscess Parting Comments