“Do I have a tooth or gum abscess?”
About three weeks ago I got an abscess in my mouth which caused swelling of my face, which I took Curam 1000 mg antibiotics for one week. The tooth concerned is I think upper right two, at the back. I had originally had a bridge on this tooth coming forward. A few years ago I had a root canal done on this tooth, I think only on one of the roots, which proved successful, but which meant that I had to have the bridge cut, so it is now just a capped tooth and the tooth, but the tooth next but one is still holding half the bridge which was ok. I'm not sure whether the abscess was in the gum or the tooth. What caused it, I was chewing really hard and I think put too much pressure. Anyway, as I say I took the antibiotics, the swelling went down, along with throbbing, and pain, but at night, the tooth two in front which holds the half of bridge still, has a strange sensation, not pain, just a bit tender, with no reaction to hot or cold, although I do not use this side of my mouth to eat on. This sensation also goes away in the daytime when I'm not laying down, and everything feels ok. I have no swelling, fever or other symptoms I'm reading about regarding infection. I am really worried at this time about visiting a dentist because of risks regarding the virus. I'm also worried about the things I'm reading regarding not treating infection. I don't know if I can just wait and hope the problem has gone or can be fixed when the threat of the virus has gone a bit.
Female | 53 years old
Complaint duration: 21 days ago
Medications: Curan 1000mg (finished now)
Conditions: None
2 Answers
I can’t tell you if this is tooth or gum related without xrays and an exam but normally gum infections don’t cause swelling that you can see outside of the mouth. Tooth infections tend to throb, like a heart beat. Especially at night. Gum infections are more constant in pain. It will come back. Be sure to see your dentist.
Obviously, you have a serious dental problem. The information that you provide does not give sufficient information to diagnose the exact problem. The antibiotic that you took has temporarily diminished the activity of the infection, but did not fix your problem as the source of the infection is still active in your mouth. You must seek proper dental care to actually deal with the problem. You need a complete X-ray evaluation to determine the extent of you problem and make a plan to fix all of the components of your dental problems. Sorry, I don't have any magic answers for you, but quit putting off getting help, dental infections can cause death. I don't want to scare you, but encourage to you quit putting this off for your own sake.
Dr. L.
Dr. L.
