If you have ever had an infected tooth, you will know how excruciating the pain can be; enough to make a grown man cry. And even grown men are known to be afraid of the dentist. Catch twenty-two; you know you need to see a dentist, but you are really afraid of the pain you will go through, imagining it will be worse than the abscess. The Dental Suite can treat your infected tooth and your fears with Sedation Dentistry in their modern, relaxing practice. Put your anxieties to one side and eliminate that painful abscess without delay.
Antibiotics may be required to treat an infected tooth. With an abscessed tooth, the infection spreads into the gums, causing swelling and pain under the jaw or around the cheek. A course of strong antibiotics will eliminate the active infection, the pain, and the swelling will dissipate but, regrettably, as antibiotics can’t get to the source, the inside of the tooth and the root canals, the pain will return, the swelling will re-appear, potentially worse than before.
How to Treat an Infected Tooth?
If a course of antibiotics fails, the infection needs to be halted from inside the tooth with root canal treatment or, worse case scenario, tooth extraction. Root canal procedures were once likened to torture. The very idea left most of us shaking in our boots. But, with modern equipment and sedation dentistry, root canal treatment has become a walk in the park and many teeth that would have once been extracted can now be successfully saved. Despite the advances in implants and dentures, nothing works quite as well as your own teeth.
It is essential for bacterial infection, the primary cause of your abscessed tooth is treated to kill the bacteria and prevent further serious problems. Left untreated, the infection can cause skin infections such as Cellulitis, or worse still the infection eventually spreads to the bloodstream and lymph nodes and can lead to severe disease that can become life-threatening. Depending on the case, your dentist will decide whether to drain the root canal or extract the tooth.
When is the Antibiotic not Effective?
Antibiotic treatment, coupled with root canal treatment, or extraction, is usually effective in stopping a bacterial infection. Antibiotics will fail if you don’t take the prescribed dosage, skipping a dose, or stopping before the end of the course, or your fears make you avoid dental treatment. In this scenario, it is likely the infection will return with a vengeance.
How to Deal with Pain Following an Infected Tooth?
The most common way to treat an abscessed tooth is with a root canal. We are very aware some patients are too afraid to see a dentist and are absolutely petrified by the idea of root canal treatment. Rest assured, we have something amazing for the most nervous of patients. The advanced generation of dentistry has placed a valuable tool in our hands: Sedation Dentistry. With sedation dentistry, as practised here at The Dental Suite, you can forget your fears. Friendly staff who understand your anxieties welcome you into our relaxed practice rooms and offer you a dream-like, pain-free experience where you remain totally in control. We care about your well-being and your dental health. Our aim is to crush your fears, never to dread a visit to the dentist again!
To know more about overcoming your dental-related fears, and for further information and queries, book your first consultation here!
