What is a abscess in the gum?

Have you ever found yourself feeling like your jaw was about to explode? Or have you woken up one morning with snow-capped peaks of pain pounding on your tooth like a jackhammer on fresh cement? If so, then congratulations are in order, because it sounds like you’ve been initiated into the elite club of people who have had to deal with gum abscesses.

But hey, don’t fret! It’s not all doom and gloom- we’re here to give a comprehensive low-down on abscesses, starting off with what they actually are.

Introduction

Abscesses, also known as “tooth gumballs”, (not fact-checked), are sacs filled with pus that can form around your teeth or gums. They occur when bacteria from plaque build-up infects the gingiva tissue- which if left untreated could lead to permanent damage of both teeth and gums leading even upto loss of oral cavity bone – it’s no joke!!

Causes

It’s like asking “what came first – chicken or egg”. No seriously! Multiple dental problems resulting from poor brushing habits such as periodontal disease, cavities, cracked teeth can cause gum abscesses. Furthermore eating sugary foods or simply having terrible dietary habits is another issue as this feeds the bacteria creating them (oh darn sugar addiction).

Other Factors

Other risk factors for developing an abscess include:

  • Weakened immune system.
  • Diabetes.
  • Radiation therapy affecting head/neck.
  • Healthcare issues directly related to sleep apnea causing breathing difficulties/hypoxemia (nope I didn’t make those words up).

…and many others!

So no matter how cautious you may be towards maintaining healthy oral hygiene practices sometimes external factors play a big role too!

Now what happens when these pesky things start appearing??

Symptoms

Now brace yourself for some fun stuff showing the signs that you might be having abscesses in your gums.

Pain

A throbbing pain, which is often severe enough to cause swelling around the gum line and adjacent areas reminiscent of a balloon inflating inside your mouth followed by sharp shooting pain up to our ear. (I mean seriously, why are dental pains always so darn dramatic?)

Discoloration in Gums

Redness or discoloration on gums becomes highly guilty as it follows with irritation & elevated blood flow directly proportional to how advanced an abscess is getting (Health & technology have been giving birth to all sorts of sophisticated stuff day-by-day yet here we are still relying on just saliva swishing)

High Temperature

Expecting guests over? Make sure they don’t mistake you looking flushed because of these things instead. Periodic fever can be one indication of tooth infection especially when coupled with cold chills , tremors etc. Any time opportunity strikes!

Notably these symptoms could also indicate other infections /chronic diseases/periodontal defects – hence go ahead book that appointment already!

Treatment Options

The good news is your dentist has multiple ways in treating such issues if caught at initial stage.( The golden ‘oops this happened while I was brushing away my third bagel.‘ moment). Keep in mind though ignoring them may result into further complications reaching upto even surgery (Yeah not exactly ideal doom home fest)

So what treatment options do we have?

Dental Cleaning (Scaling)

If detected at early stages cleaning up plaque built-using either hand held tools like scalers or automated appliances helps get rid of bacteria preventing further development into an infection

Antibiotics

Also prescribed for mild cases as anti-biotics limit bacterial growth.The drugs often depend upon factors determined during diagnosis process such as age,type,length etc.

Drainage Method (Incision)

Well surgery is the last resort but when it sneaks up – this method is used to clear out any accumulation of pus in a form of an “Incision”. It involves local anaesthesia followed by teeth cut and wound healing.

Root Canal Method

In severe cases if drainage procedure does not work or small amount infections comes back within weeks – root canal extraction act as final demarcation. The tooth could either be partially extracted or completely removed depending upon severity & progress ,requirement would then arise on whether it needs replacement etc since things might have become worse than we thought!

So buckle up and prepare yourself for some exciting new dental practice you never heard before!.

Prevention

It’s better to spend your time flossing, using mouthwash (unlike beard oil) & overall maintaining oral hygiene- easy steps that help prevent these unbearable high intensity frequent gum abscess incidents

Brush twice daily

I cannot stress enough how important simply brushing your teeth is!

Floss regularly

Flossing daily ensures areas between teeth which are unreachable by brush also stay clean ensuring bacterial growth prevention especially along gums where food particles get trapped.

Watch your diet too!

Limit snacks burdened with carbs,sugar,acids keeping our diets rich in calcium, magnesium,potassium which directly impacts oral bones health. Getting all those required vitamins and minerals can never hurt anyway! – smoothies anyone?

Accidents happen – In case injury occurs make sure to contact dentist ASAP or at least second priority right after drafting Instagram caption for victimizing slightly blurry photos.Lack of proper attention can lead to such painful situations hence an hour spent here saves a week worth crying over dental pains.

There we go it’s better understanding what exactly happens festering around our gums its certainly best in avoiding such issues arising altogether – so let’s trade bagels for apples!(just kidding… sorta)

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