110 – Extracting Abscessed Tooth

Extracting Abscessed Tooth
A tooth abscess never heals on its own and can lead to infections which can be serious and in other parts of the body beyond the mouth. Therefore, the abscess must absolutely be treated by a specialist: a dental surgeon.
To treat a peri-apical abscess (a pocket of infection or pus around your tooth root), the dental surgeon will drain the abscess, which consists of evacuating the pus by piercing the crown of the tooth under local anesthesia, before cleaning the canals of the tooth (located in the roots of the tooth) to remove the tissue that is inside the infected tooth (pulp). Then, it will be necessary to plug the canals using a special dental paste to avoid a new infection in a tooth which is, therefore, “devitalized” (dead). In cases where the infection has begun to spread, antibiotics will be prescribed.
To treat a periodontal abscess, you must clean the space between the affected tooth and gum, under local anesthesia, then try to reattach the gum if the pocket is not too large. If the infection is severe, tooth extraction may be necessary. The dental surgeon can also prescribe a disinfectant preparation to be used in mouthwashes.
How can a dental abscess evolve?
Under treatment, the pain subsides quickly, then the infection subsides and heals. Most often, the tooth can be kept, but it is devitalized, that is to say, the living tissue (the pulp) inside the tooth has been removed. Extraction is only necessary in cases of serious infections.
Without treatment, the abscess can quickly evolve towards a “fistulisation” (formation of a channel connecting the abscess to the mucous membrane or to the skin, to evacuate the pus). This phenomenon temporarily alleviates the pain and swelling, but the infection leads to serious complications by spreading to other parts of the body.
Depending on the origin of the dental abscess and to deflate it, the dentist proceeds:
A devitalization of the tooth if the cause is pulp necrosis. This treatment consists of removing the rest of the dental pulp. The specialist cleans the canals located at the root of the tooth and then performs a root canal filling. The operation is usually performed under local anesthesia. The definitive obturation of the canals can be carried out in a subsequent session once the signs of abscess have disappeared.
Has an incision in the gum to evacuate the pus in case of periodontal abscess This act is often accompanied by a prescription for antibiotics, analgesics, and an antiseptic mouthwash. In a subsequent session, the dentist will perform a periodontal assessment and suggest the appropriate treatment.
At the extraction of the tooth if the latter has a root fracture. This extraction can be postponed to a later session in the event of excessive infection. The dentist then makes an incision on the day of the emergency to drain the abscess first and relieve you of the pain. He will prescribe you a prescription for antibiotics, analgesics, and antiseptics. The extraction will be done at a later session when the abscess has “cooled down” and will proceed like a typical extraction, where the mouth is numbed, and the tooth is taken out.