What is a dental abscess?
An abscess is a collection of pus. Pus is a thick fluid that usually contains white blood cells, dead tissue and bacteria (germs). The usual cause of an abscess is an infection with bacteria.
A dental abscess is a localised collection of pus in a tooth, or in nearby structures. They are classified into two main types:
Periapical abscess
This type of abscess starts in the dental pulp (centre of the tooth). This is the most common type. This type of abscess usually develops as a complication of tooth decay (caries). Dental decay is very common and erodes (damages and breaks down) the protective layers of the tooth (the enamel and dentine). The damage to the tooth allows bacteria to invade the pulp to cause an infection.
An infection in the pulp can progress to form an abscess. Sometimes a periapical abscess develops if the nerve to the tooth 'dies' for any reason. For example, from injury. The 'dead' tissue inside a tooth is more prone to infection.
Periodontal abscess
This type of abscess starts in the supporting structures of the teeth such as the periodontium which is between the tooth and the gum. It most commonly develops as a complication of gum disease (periodontal disease) which is infection or inflammation of the tissues that surround the teeth. Gum disease often causes the gum to become slightly detached from the tooth. This causes 'pockets' to form which may get filled with bacteria and progress to form an abscess. A periodontal abscess may also develop as a complication of injury to the gums or periodontium. A periodontal abscess is sometimes called a 'gum boil' as the abscess causes a swelling to develop next to a tooth.
What are the symptoms of a dental abscess?
Symptoms typically include one or more of the following:
* Pain (toothache) which can quickly become worse. It can be severe and throbbing.
* Swelling of the gum which can be tender.
* Swelling of the face. The skin over an abscess may become red and inflamed.
* The affected tooth may become tender to touch, and may even become loose.
* High temperature (fever) and feeling generally unwell.
* In severe cases there may be spasm of the jaw muscles with difficulty swallowing and/or breathing.
Wednesday 23 July 2008
Friday 18 July 2008
Interesting article
I found this article in the advertiser it sums up the state of dentistry in the united kingdom.
A MUM ripped her own tooth out with her fingernails because she couldn't get to see a dentist.
Susannah Houghton, 39, from Radcliffe is one of a growing number of people resorting to DIY dentistry because of a severe shortage of NHS services.
The mother-of-four was in so much pain at the weekend that she couldn't eat, sleep or talk properly and contacted her local out-of-hours service.
But she says staff told her they couldn't help until she had been in pain for 48 hours. By that evening the pain had became so unbearable that she pulled out her broken tooth herself.
Mrs Houghton was given antibiotics after returning to the emergency care centre on Sunday and had to have further treatment to remove the root of her tooth.
She said: "The pain was so bad it was driving me mad.
"I wanted to bang my head against the wall- anything to distract me from the pain - I've had four children and I've never experienced anything like this.
"I begged them to help me, but when they wouldn't I had to do something to help myself.
"I knew there was a chance I could cause an infection or have complications but the pain put those fears to the back of my mind.
"I know I'm not the only person to be driven to this, there is something very wrong with a system which leaves you in pain and without help."
A spokeswoman for Bury Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "Out of hours Emergency Dental services are commissioned from NHS Direct and clinical sessions are provided over the weekend at the Dental Access Centre, based at Parsons Lane, Bury.
"The dentist on duty uses clinical guidelines to assess the severity of the dental problem and makes a judgement as to the appropriate course of action to take in these circumstances."
The case comes as figures reveal that health bosses have failed to provide any extra services to combat the shortage of dentists despite patients making many urgent calls for action more than six months ago.
The local health watchdog found in April that people who couldn't get an NHS dentist for themselves or their children were going without because they couldn't afford to pay for private care.
A survey of 240 people found some were travelling across the region for care with one man told to travel to Chester for an emergency appointment.
Another person with painful toothache was told they would have to wait two weeks for an appointment.
A recent report revealed almost a third of people in the north west are not registered with an NHS dentist.
And 40 per cent questioned in the survey - the biggest of its kind into dental care - said they have been forced to leave an NHS practice because it went private.
A MUM ripped her own tooth out with her fingernails because she couldn't get to see a dentist.
Susannah Houghton, 39, from Radcliffe is one of a growing number of people resorting to DIY dentistry because of a severe shortage of NHS services.
The mother-of-four was in so much pain at the weekend that she couldn't eat, sleep or talk properly and contacted her local out-of-hours service.
But she says staff told her they couldn't help until she had been in pain for 48 hours. By that evening the pain had became so unbearable that she pulled out her broken tooth herself.
Mrs Houghton was given antibiotics after returning to the emergency care centre on Sunday and had to have further treatment to remove the root of her tooth.
She said: "The pain was so bad it was driving me mad.
"I wanted to bang my head against the wall- anything to distract me from the pain - I've had four children and I've never experienced anything like this.
"I begged them to help me, but when they wouldn't I had to do something to help myself.
"I knew there was a chance I could cause an infection or have complications but the pain put those fears to the back of my mind.
"I know I'm not the only person to be driven to this, there is something very wrong with a system which leaves you in pain and without help."
A spokeswoman for Bury Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "Out of hours Emergency Dental services are commissioned from NHS Direct and clinical sessions are provided over the weekend at the Dental Access Centre, based at Parsons Lane, Bury.
"The dentist on duty uses clinical guidelines to assess the severity of the dental problem and makes a judgement as to the appropriate course of action to take in these circumstances."
The case comes as figures reveal that health bosses have failed to provide any extra services to combat the shortage of dentists despite patients making many urgent calls for action more than six months ago.
The local health watchdog found in April that people who couldn't get an NHS dentist for themselves or their children were going without because they couldn't afford to pay for private care.
A survey of 240 people found some were travelling across the region for care with one man told to travel to Chester for an emergency appointment.
Another person with painful toothache was told they would have to wait two weeks for an appointment.
A recent report revealed almost a third of people in the north west are not registered with an NHS dentist.
And 40 per cent questioned in the survey - the biggest of its kind into dental care - said they have been forced to leave an NHS practice because it went private.
Tuesday 15 July 2008
pulling your own teeth out
Even though it may sound very odd and downright compelling, a lot of people actually try to extract their own teeth. Toothache pain can be very painful and very frustrating, making you try anything to get relief. Depending on how bad the pain is, you’ll be more than willing to do just about anything you can to get the pain to stop. Abscesses or really bad cavities are among the worst, as the pain never seems to let up - no matter what you do.
In the old days, teeth were extracted by pliers, as there were no dentists around. During these times, people would get drunk on alcohol and then the teeth would be extracted. There was no such thing as anaesthesia back then, so it was impossible to locally numb the pain. These days though, local anaesthesia is the best way to numb a toothache before pulling the tooth. If you attempt to pull a tooth yourself, you’ll feel the pain no matter what you do.
There are situations however, in which you can pull your own teeth. Baby teeth for example, are acceptable to pull. Before you yank it out though, you should check on the age of when the tooth in question should be removed. If you wiggle the tooth around and it appears to be loose, then chances are it will come out without a problem. On the other hand, if you pull the tooth and it turns out to be an abscess, you’ll end up with a real problem and your hands and you’ll need to visit a dentist as soon as you can.
Another situation in which it is acceptable to pull your own teeth is when you have a severe case of gum disease. Gum disease can cause the socket and the bone to become extremely decayed, which will result in the destruction of the tooth. If the gum disease is severe enough, the tooth will be extremely loose and will come out without a problem. In some cases, the tooth can be almost unbearable to the touch. If you have gum disease and notice a loose tooth, you should be careful when pulling it. If you don’t do it properly or if you do it too soon, you could end up breaking the top of the tooth. If this happens, you’ll need to go to the dentist to have the remaining portion of the tooth cut out.
Even though a tooth may feel loose when you touch it, doesn’t always mean that you can grab a pair of pliers and rip it out. Teeth are very delicate. If you try to rip a tooth out with pair of pliers and make a mistake, you should end up doing more harm than good. Putting pliers in your mouth can also lead to an infection, which would send you to the dentist. Abscesses on the other hand, should never be dealt with on your own - you’ll need to go to a dentist to have him properly extract the tooth and give you some antibiotics to stop the infection.
To be on the safe side and avoid any potential problems that could easily arise, you should always go to the dentist if you have a toothache. No matter how bad the pain may be, you should never attempt to pull the tooth yourself. Your dentist can numb the area before he pulls the tooth, so you’ll feel no pain at all. He will also prescribe you some pain medicine and antibiotics as well, to help treat any infection you may have. If you attempt to pull the tooth yourself, you’ll only cause more problems in the end - and end up going to a dentist anyway.
In the old days, teeth were extracted by pliers, as there were no dentists around. During these times, people would get drunk on alcohol and then the teeth would be extracted. There was no such thing as anaesthesia back then, so it was impossible to locally numb the pain. These days though, local anaesthesia is the best way to numb a toothache before pulling the tooth. If you attempt to pull a tooth yourself, you’ll feel the pain no matter what you do.
There are situations however, in which you can pull your own teeth. Baby teeth for example, are acceptable to pull. Before you yank it out though, you should check on the age of when the tooth in question should be removed. If you wiggle the tooth around and it appears to be loose, then chances are it will come out without a problem. On the other hand, if you pull the tooth and it turns out to be an abscess, you’ll end up with a real problem and your hands and you’ll need to visit a dentist as soon as you can.
Another situation in which it is acceptable to pull your own teeth is when you have a severe case of gum disease. Gum disease can cause the socket and the bone to become extremely decayed, which will result in the destruction of the tooth. If the gum disease is severe enough, the tooth will be extremely loose and will come out without a problem. In some cases, the tooth can be almost unbearable to the touch. If you have gum disease and notice a loose tooth, you should be careful when pulling it. If you don’t do it properly or if you do it too soon, you could end up breaking the top of the tooth. If this happens, you’ll need to go to the dentist to have the remaining portion of the tooth cut out.
Even though a tooth may feel loose when you touch it, doesn’t always mean that you can grab a pair of pliers and rip it out. Teeth are very delicate. If you try to rip a tooth out with pair of pliers and make a mistake, you should end up doing more harm than good. Putting pliers in your mouth can also lead to an infection, which would send you to the dentist. Abscesses on the other hand, should never be dealt with on your own - you’ll need to go to a dentist to have him properly extract the tooth and give you some antibiotics to stop the infection.
To be on the safe side and avoid any potential problems that could easily arise, you should always go to the dentist if you have a toothache. No matter how bad the pain may be, you should never attempt to pull the tooth yourself. Your dentist can numb the area before he pulls the tooth, so you’ll feel no pain at all. He will also prescribe you some pain medicine and antibiotics as well, to help treat any infection you may have. If you attempt to pull the tooth yourself, you’ll only cause more problems in the end - and end up going to a dentist anyway.
Sunday 13 July 2008
Getting people to read your blog
I have been doing this blog for a week now and although rome wasnt built in day it is extremely hard to get visitors. I have done the right things or so I have been informed my blog gets pinged everytime I add a new post, I have registered with some of the main blog search engines and I have added sitetracker so I can see just who does visit my blog. There is one regular visitor from woburn,massachusets a mysterious blog reader who comes to my site 10 times a day. Dont get me wrong I fully appreciate it but I wonder who this person is, wether they are suffering from toothache and need help or if they just like looking at my profile pic?? Anyway I will carry on promoting this blog because I believe there are thousands of people out there suffering who need to be helped and who could probably help others. Heres hoping!!
Thursday 10 July 2008
cancelled appointment
I cancelled my appointment this morning or more to the point my wife did lol..I am still quite nervous of dentists despite my extensive treatment. I browse other sites looking at peoples experiences of dentists and there are a lot of scared people out there. I suppose some dentists put you at ease where as others strike the fear of god in you. My dentist does try and calm me somewhat but gets on with the treatment straight away. My stepdaughter is 17 and she still attends a children dentist wtf? She went a couple of weeks ago to have a tooth extracted, on arrival in the dentists chair she had a gum numbed by a soothing gel, then she was given copius amounts of gas and air to sedate her and then she had her novocaine shot mmmm ok she is having a tooth pulled after all and we all know what an uncomfortable experience it can be. The dentist changed her mind about extraction and gave her a filling instead..all that for a FILLING!!!! I am not warped and bitter but please god I want to be a child again
Wednesday 9 July 2008
sussed it out
After what seems like an eternity I have finally managed to place some more ads on my page yippee...that is now it for ads!! I have an appointment with my dentist on friday but because I am presently pain free (touch wood) I think I am going to wimp out, I will update you friday.
new blogger still finding my feet
I set up this blog originally for people all over the globe to offer practical and affordable ways of easing toothache pain. Investigating further I have realised that I can place non-obtrusive ads for dental and painkilling treatments, hmm i thought that must be easy but of course with my limited technical abilities it has taken me 8 hours to place one ad jeesh. I know that I am allowed 3 ads but god knows how you do it? If anyone has an easy step by step dummy guide please please let me know...
Tuesday 8 July 2008
My extreme agony
i just want to reassure you all that although there seems no end to the agonizing pain you are suffering there is light at the end of the tunnel. I suffered with a god awful tooth abcess about 3 weeks ago. The only thing that got me through the 9 never ending nights was reading these pages. I too took potential life threatening overdoses of painkillers, swashed numerous litres of warm salty water round my gob and occassionaly reached for the pliers. I managed to get into a dentist who confirmed I had an abcess doh! she put me on 2 courses of antibiotics and advised me to take the correct dosage of ibuprofen yeah right she also drilled into my offending tooth and cleaned it out and then put a temp filling in, the 3 hour relief of novocaine was bliss, i got home as quickly as i could and managed a couple of hours sleep untill the evil nasty throbbing pain came back. I was informed that I need a root canal and to go back in 5 days once the antibiotics worked. Of course they started to ease the pain 4 days and 23 hours later so in the meantime I had a miserable time to endure but I will spare you all that suffering. The pain thankfully had gone by the time i went back to the dentist and you know what its like once the pain has gone you feel it unecessary to go back to the dentist, but after all the agony I had endured I practically ran there. Once I was sat in the chair i had an xray and the dentist kindly informed me that a root canal would probably not work so i should consider an extratction jesus!! bottom left molar a big sucker i weighed up the options and decided i could not ever go through that pain again and opted for the extraction, 3 injections later i cannot feel my tongue and she starts tugging and pulling it felt like my cheek and my mouth was going tio split, 20 mins later the biggest tooth I have ever seen cracked out of my jaw along with a dribbling of blood and spit. I must admit i felt no pain it was slightly uncomfortable but no more than that i did however feel relief that I would not be enduring any more abcesses thanks to that tooth. So my thoughts are with you all I tried praying some nights it didnt work but sometimes desperation gets the better of you. I now brush my teeth 3 times a day along with flossing and regular mouthwashes. The salty water does work for a bit but 3 ibuprofen and 2 paracetomol gave me some relief...
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