When Your Body Attacks Your Teeth: Combating Autoimmune Dental Problems

What To Know About Oral Abscess Treatment

An oral abscess is when you have pus that has accumulated inside a tooth or your gums. It is crucial that this problem is treated by a dentist as soon as possible in order to avoid complications where the infection can spread further into your body. Here is what you need to know about how abscesses are treated in either your gums or teeth.

Gum Abscess Treatment

When you have an abscess within your gums, it typically starts small as an encapsulation that is just within the gums. It will not be at a point where it spreads to the bone tissues or a nearby tooth. The goal of a dentist will be to flush and drain the abscess so that it does not spread any further.

Dreaming an abscess is done very carefully because you do not want the bacteria in the puss to travel to other places in your mouth. There is a potential risk of it reaching your throat by the nature of where the oral abscess is located, so the dentist might actually place a dam over your throat as a precautionary measure.

The abscess must be lanced in order for it to drain. Then, slow pressure will be applied to the abscess to get out any pus that remains inside. The area where the abscess was located will then be flushed out using a saline solution, which will get rid of any material left behind that is infectious. Gauze can be used to pack the area while it heals, and you'll need to take antibiotics to help completely get rid of the infection in the gums.

Tooth Abscess Treatment

The process of treating a tooth abscess is based on the same concept. The pus must be removed from the tooth and the area flushed to clean it. However, a tooth abscess requires that the tooth's living tissue be removed as well. A dentist can't isolate the abscess from the pulp, so it all has to go in order to treat the abscess.

A root canal procedure is done to essentially clean the inside of the tooth. It is done by creating a hole within the top portion of your tooth, and then the dentist will have easy access to the pulp that must be removed. A crown is placed on the tooth when the procedure is over so that the tooth is protected from damage while using it to eat.

Reach out to a dental clinic in your area like Picone Dental - Vincent J Picone DDS for more info about treating an oral abscess. 


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