Bacteria from a cavity can extend into the gums, the cheek, the throat, beneath the tongue, or even into the jaw or facial bones. A dental abscess can become very painful when tissues become inflamed.

A dentoalveolar abscess is an acute lesion characterized by localization of pus in the structures that surround the teeth. Most patients are treated easily with analgesia, antibiotics, drainage, and/or referral to a dentist or oral-maxillofacial surgeon. However, the physician should be aware of potential complications of simple dentoalveolar abscess.

Symptoms of Dental Abscess

Pain is gnawing and continuous. The involved tooth is painful when percussed (tapped), and often the teeth cannot close without added discomfort. Hot foods may increase the pain.

Symptoms of a dental abscess typically include pain, swelling, and redness of the mouth and face. With an advanced infection, you can suffer nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, and diarrhea.

If the root of the tooth dies as a result of infection, the toothache may stop. However, this doesn't mean the infection has healed; the infection remains active and continues to spread and destroy tissue. Therefore, if you experience any of the above listed symptoms, it is important to see a dentist even if the pain subsides.

Severe throbbing pain in a tooth is the hallmark of dental abscess. Chewing or eating hot or cold foods may severely increase the pain. The surrounding gum may appear inflamed. Tender, swollen lymph nodes in the neck may develop and fever may occur. If the abscess ruptures through the gum, a small quantity of pus may drain. It usually has a foul taste and rancid smell.

Causes of Dental Abscess

The cause of these infections is direct growth of the bacteria from an existing cavity into the soft tissues and bones of the face and neck.

Infection results in a collection of pus (dead tissue, live and dead bacteria, white blood cells) and swelling of the tissues within the tooth. This causes a painful toothache. If the root of the tooth dies, the toothache may stop, unless an abscess develops. This is especially true if the infection remains active and continues to spread and destroy tissue.

chronic abscess may be painless, with the patient completely unaware of its presence even as it continues to grow inside the jawbone. Or the area of infection may be walled off by a fibrous sac, forming a granuloma, which contains non-infectious (sterile) tissue but not pus.

Dental abscesses often get their start when bacteria invade a decayed tooth; the decay may then travel to the gums or jawbone. Decay can also begin in the mouth when teeth are not brushed or flossed properly.

A tooth abscess is a complication of tooth decay . It may also result from trauma to the tooth, such as when a tooth is broken or chipped. Openings in the tooth enamel allow bacteria to infect the center of the tooth (the pulp). Infection may spread out from the root of the tooth and to the bones supporting the tooth.

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