Abscess can occur anywhere in the body. That also includes your gums and root areas around your teeth. The formation of abscess can lead to severe pain but it should be the least of your concern given the severity of condition. The infection can spread and make things quiet complicated from the perspective of both oral and overall health. Having that said, it remains to be of utmost importance to identify the symptoms earlier and get the tooth abscess treated before it starts making things worse.

It’s the pus that builds up the abscesses in teeth or gums. They are named differently depending on where they are at.

=> The first type of tooth abscess is the Periapical abscess. This abscess is formed due to the infection occurring inside the tooth pulp. Typically, it happens due to the dead or infected nerve inside the tooth. It starts from the source of decay and keeps spreading to the other teeth through jawbone. In most of the cases, tooth abscess is formed due to cavity.

=> Another type of tooth abscess is known as Periodontal Abscess. As the name suggests, this abscess occurs under the gums.

In its advanced stage, the abscess cannot be ignored. But you have got to do something before it becomes this much noticeable. There are some symptoms through which you can identify abscess before it becomes worse. These symptoms mainly include:

=> Toothache or pain in the gums

=> Bad taste

=> Swelling

=> Pain in the jaw

=> Swelling in the lymph nodes

=> Fever

The abscess can also cause a small growth to appear in the gum area. Upon applying pressure, the pus will be released out. This release of pus can help you know that you have abscess.

The symptoms of tooth abscess may also overlap with those of other issues such as gum disease and cavities. Whatever the symptoms you notice, you have consult your dentist immediately.

The treatment of tooth abscess mainly depends upon how far the abscess has progressed. If the problem is not that severe, the dentist may only need to clear the abscess and give antibiotics afterwards to prevent infection from reoccurring.

The problem of intermediate severity may need to be treated by incision in the gums. The dentist will remove the abscess and the affected nerves after the incision.

If the issues has progressed a bit too much, the abscess may start appearing in the gum area. This is where the dentist may choose the root canal treatment to save your tooth and remove infection from spreading further. Root canal involves drilling of the tooth from the chewing surface. The drilling is done all the way down to the infected nerves. The inside chamber of the tooth is cleaned and disinfected. The tooth is filled to prevent entrance of bacteria.

If the issue becomes quite severe, the dentist may suggest tooth extraction. This is the last resort for this issue. Remember, tooth abscess is not something that can be ignored because the infection caused by this condition can be life-threatening. So, you need to visit the dentist as soon as you see the problem.