Will an Oral Specialist Pull a Tainted Tooth?

Your oral health is a very crucial part of your overall well-being. If your smile is not in its best state, your quality of life will depreciate. This is why our dentist near you offers dental checkups to help maintain your pearly whites.

Nevertheless, if you have an infected tooth, you risk losing your tooth. Even worse, you might end up developing other oral health and general health issues.

You may have a tainted tooth, and you may think that the discoloration may be due to food stains. In most cases, if a single tooth is stained, there is a chance that the tooth is infected. This means that you have to come to our dental office in Stockton, CA, to get it checked.

Dealing With Infected Teeth

Your teeth have the knack for withstanding so much. Most people tend to mistake the sturdiness of teeth for invincibility. So, a little neglect here and there, and the enamel starts weakening. When this happens, cavities can form, giving bacteria the chance to get into the delicate inner parts of the teeth.

If you don’t come to our dental office in Stockton, CA, so that our dentist deals with the cavity, then it can progress, and you can get an infection. This is what we term a dental abscess.

This kind of infection occurs at the tip of the root and arises due to an untreated dental cavity, prior dental work, or injury.

You need to know that a dental abscess will not go away without receiving treatment. If, by chance, the abscess ruptures, the pain you are feeling will subside, but you will still need to receive treatment.

On the other hand, if the abscess doesn’t drain, then there is a chance that the infection may spread. It can spread to your jaw and even part of your neck and head. In some cases, patients develop sepsis, a life-threatening infection that can spread all over their bodies.

If you choose to seek treatment, our dentist will check your teeth to ascertain the extent of the infection. Depending on the scans, our dentist may decide to perform any of the following procedures:

• Drain the Abscess

Our dentist will have to cut the abscess to drain out the pus. Then use saline water to wash the area.

• Perform a Root Canal

Root canal therapy can be performed to deal with the infection and save the infected tooth. Our dentist will gain access to the inner parts of the tooth by drilling. Then the infected part of the tooth will be removed. Our dentist will clean the root canal, seal it using gutta-percha, and preferably cover the tooth using a dental crown.

• Prescribe Antibiotics

At times, the infection may spread from the tooth to the surrounding teeth or jaw. This will prompt our dentist to prescribe antibiotics to keep the infection at bay. Plus, if you have a weakened immune system, our dentist may also decide to prescribe antibiotics.

• Extract the Affected Tooth

If all the other options are off the table, then you may need oral surgery in Stockton, CA. This means that our dentist will remove the infected tooth and then drain the pus to get rid of the infection.

What to Expect After Tooth Extraction

Dental extraction is a straightforward procedure that is done within a few minutes. There are two kinds, either simple or surgical.

After your oral surgery in Stockton, CA, our dentist will send you home to recover. Recovery will take a few days, especially if you underwent a simple extraction. Some light bleeding will occur, especially during the first day after the procedure. You can also experience some bruising, pain, and swelling.

This is what you can do to reduce discomfort, re-infection and can enhance speedy recovery:

• Take your painkillers as prescribed by our dentist
• Don’t remove the gauze immediately after the procedure, but after an hour or so
• Use a cold compress to your jaw to reduce pain and the swelling
• Rest and minimize strenuous activity for at least three days
• Don’t spit or use a straw or perform any action that will dislodge the clot that has formed at the extraction site
• Avoid smoking during your recovery since the chemicals in tobacco can hinder healing
• Eat soft foods such as yogurt, applesauce, etc., but avoid spicy, hot, tough, and chewy foods
• Maintain proper oral hygiene

Don’t think twice before contacting us when you have a dental issue, especially a tooth abscess. Contact us at Quail Lakes Dental Care if you need dental care.