facial swelling

Treat Your Dental Abscesses Quickly To Avoid Severe Health Risks

A woman with facial swelling from a dental abscessDental abscesses can be extremely painful. An abscess appears when the roots of a tooth become infected. It is important to treat this condition right away or the infection could spread throughout your body.

An abscess forms when the roots or the space between two teeth becomes infected. If you do not take action, the infection could spread to nearby teeth. If you wait too long, the infection might spread to other parts of your mouth. There have been cases of infections spreading to other parts of the patient’s body because the abscess had been left untreated for a long time.

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Dental abscesses are very painful and the pain can become worse if it is not treated. You can relieve the pain by taking aspiring, ibuprofen or by applying a cold compress to the area. These are only temporary solutions you can use while you wait for a dentist. You should never apply aspiring directly to the painful area or you could burn the gums and worsen the pain.

You should also avoid taking prescription medication, unless your doctor recommends you to. The best thing to do is to seek treatment rather than focusing on making the pain disappear. You should actively look for a dentist who can see you right away and not hesitate to drive to get to the nearest dentist who can see you. If you cannot find a dentist and the tooth is badly infected, your best option is to go to an emergency room.

Dental abscesses should be treated quickly to avoid complications. Abscesses can be prevented by adopting a good hygiene and by meeting with a dentist twice a year to have your teeth cleaned and inspected. Do your best to prevent abscesses and take action quickly if you develop one to prevent the infection from spreading.

If you have facial swelling, gum pain, and/or a severe toothache you may have an abscess. If these symptoms are present call the dentists at emergencydentalcarebaltimore.com right away.

Facial Swelling is Definitely a Sign of a Dental Emergency

A woman with facial swellingThere are several things which can constitute a medical emergency, including pain, oozing sores and swelling. In some instances, all of these may occur; in others only one of these symptoms may be present. If a tooth or the gum around it is not in significant pain, some of our patients make the mistake of thinking that it is fine. However, if the area is swollen, you need to contact our office immediately.

Swelling is a sign of something being seriously wrong. Our patients need and deserve to have a correct diagnosis as soon as possible. In some instances, it may even save the life of a person. This is because swelling often accompanies some form of infection.

While infections anywhere in the body are serious and need to be addressed by a medical professional quickly, when it occurs in the head, the situation becomes more critical. This is because if the infection gets into the blood it can rapidly reach the brain. Patients can suffer a great deal of harm to this vital organ if this occurs, including but not limited to an unexpected and rapid decline leading to loss of life.

Besides a serious infection that can spread quickly, there are other types of infection and irritation that can cause swelling of the face. Viral infections like herpes usually have accompanying pain but not always. The transmittable disease syphilis can cause red swelling that is not painful. Likewise, patients may have some other form of infection, including those caused by fungi and bacteria.

At times, we see patients who have swelling after experiencing some type of injury. Whether it is related to sports or just a simple fall at home, this situation should be checked out by one of our staff. It is not uncommon for people to think the swelling and pain will subside when there is actually something more serious going on. For instance, there may be a chip of tooth embedded in the gum. When patients get to us quickly, we have more options to reduce the pain/swelling and possibly save a broken tooth.

These are just some of the types of dental emergencies that we treat when patients have facial swelling. Having a proper diagnosis as quickly as possible is imperative to successful treatment. If you are experiencing swelling, with or without pain, call our Baltimore area emergency dental office today so we can help you.