Wisdom tooth infection? Abscess? help!

[Hypochondriac98]

Hi all,

I'm in desperate need of advice or at least some form of comfort. I'm in a dental forum, but nobody is helpful or even answers posts, so I came here. My bottom left wisdom tooth has been crowning for about a year. It hasn't fully come in, and quite frankly I doubt it ever will as it looks crooked. Every so often I get some pain and swelling in that area, but it usually calms down within a few days. The pain and swelling has flared up again, but this time I went t Dr. Google and scared myself silly. I came to the conclusion that it's most likely pericoronitis, but if that's the case, that means an infection is present. I've been using my waterpik to remove any food from the hole (there's basically a crater since the tooth hasn't crowned fully) and I've attempted to irrigate underneath my gum in that area with it. I've also been swishing warm salt water around in my mouth. Today, the pain subsided considerably, and the swelling went down a tad. I decided to brush my teeth and irrigate before bed, and that's when things hit the fan. I accidentally bumped the area with my toothbrush and felt immediate pain, saw blood, and it immediately swelled up again. I don't know if I'm going crazy, but the swollen area feels like a squishy lump. Maybe it's just really swollen, or I have an abscess? I'm not sure. I've read my fair share of people dying from infections from teeth that spread through their bloodstream, so I think it's safe to say I'm pretty spooked. My mom is calling the dentist first thing tomorrow, but I have a terrible gag reflex and I know they're going to catch hell trying to x-ray me. I'm just really nervous. Does this sound like an infection or an abscess?

---------- Post added at 01:39 ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 ----------

I've come to the conclusion that the tooth probably has to go (it has a small cavity), but I've read all of these things about people getting nerve damage, the tooth being too close to the nerve, and even dying from infection AFTER the procedure so I'm pretty spooked right now.

[MyNameIsTerry]

From my experience of having an infection beneath a wisdom tooth (which crumbled eventually after it started going off) the pain from the infection was stopping me eating in that side.

It was easy to treat with a couple of courses of antibiotics and then the broken tooth was removed.

It's really best to see your dentist.

My brother experienced some blood poisoning from an abscess, the signs were easily spotted by the dentist (he was clearly ill to us) and again easily treated prior to tooth removal. You won't read that because who would bother going onto the internet to write it? But you will come across the uncommon scary scenarios as people shout about them.

I think if you have pain then unless you have cut your gum or have a break in the tooth in some way, it could be an infection.

And don't worry about nerve damage. My GF experienced some of that once with an extraction but otherwise has had plenty of work without issue and I've hade many extractions over the years without a problem. Extractions are very common everyday things to dentists. If the tooth is inaccessible then some gum work may be required and not all dentists can do that (it tends to be a hospital dental referral over here) but wait and see what they say because dentists are very good and do what they can before going for referrals from my experience.

[ankietyjoe]

I have similar issues with my lower wisdom teeth and was advised by my dentist at the time to not have them out as it would be a major operation (hinting that they'd need to possibly break my jaw to get them out.....).

At the time, I'd had a pretty major infection on both sides and the pain and discomfort was horrendous, never mind the inability to eat for over a week!!.

Anyway....

They suggested that I use one of those small pointy toothbrushes and some corsodyl gel to really dig around the wisdom teeth every other day. If I feel the beginnings of pain or swelling, dig around even more to the point where it hurts (even if it bleeds) to make sure I really get the antibacterial gel in there, do this twice a day. After following this advice I've not had a bad infection there for 12 years or so.

[Careful1]

If you had a dental abscess you will know it... OUCH.... I am 35 years old and all 4 of my wisdom teeth are impacted. They are always saying I need to get them out but I cant afford it... Mine like yours often fake like they are coming in, they break the skin, the area gets swollen and sensitive for a few days and then goes away.

Yes, an untreated dental infection can kill you but its pretty rare as one will see the signs of a problem long before it gets to that point. This mostly happens in the case people get an infection or develop an abscess, they know its infected but they dont seek treatment... Most of the times because they cant afford it and because its left untreated the infection spreads into the blood stream.. Any untreated infection can do this.. A person will know if infection has spread to their blood though because they will be very ill.

Keep the area clean but dont poke at it, continue to rinse with the warm salt water and try to remain calm because you are gonna be okay. Dental infections, if thats what you have are easily treated with antibiotics and dealing with whatever caused it in the first place to prevent future complications.

[Lev1985]

My dentist told me she I had the worst case of pericoronitis that she has ever seen. I was in complete agony. I couldn't eat or sleep. She popped the abscess and gave me a course of antibiotics and all resolved after a week or so. I am sure you will be fine. Take care.

[Mindprison]

Just wanted to wish you better soon over the holiday period! I agree with everyone, my mother had an abscess in her mouth a few years back and it was very obvious. Couldn't eat, sleep and her face was badly swollen, she described the pain as agonizing throbbing. She has a very high pain threshold...so...I don't want to ever have it if it was unbearable for even her

[Hypochondriac98]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for replying and being so understanding! The swelling eventually went down, and the pain went away so I assumed I was fine. Unfortunately, as soon as the pain went away, I fell back into old habits. I stopped using the waterpik in the area, and now I have a small white bump in the area near the same tooth It doesn't hurt, but now I'm 100% convinced its an abscess, even though I'm in 0 pain. I feel like it could be from a piece of food that got stuck back there last night (I went on a date, I ate some food, got said food stuck back there, and by the time I came home, I fell asleep without brushing my teeth). Yesterday, before I went out, the bump wasn't there so I feel like that's a contributing factor, along with me not using the waterpik. My mom called the dentist , and the earliest they can get me in is January 24th!!! That's such a long time, and I'm afraid this bump is something more that can't wait. I'm afraid of it draining. Should I go to the ER, or just continue my salt water/waterpik/extensive care routine until I get to the dentist? Like I said, theres no pain and no swelling anywhere.

[unsure_about_this]

You will know if you had an abscess, mine was not wisdom teeth, I needed a root canal, it kept me up and struggled to eat, I go to dentist regularly but have a overcrowding problem., but I was scared to go back, but knew I needed the problem sorting out.

[PatriUCLA]

Hi all,

I've seen that this post is 4 months old but since I'm almost a dentist (still a few months and it is done) I'd like to write here my opinion because it can be helpful for somebody else (I hope so).
Please, don't take my words as diagnosis or medical advice because they aren't. Even for experienced doctors, it is impossible to do a diagnosis without a full mouth examination.

First of all I'd like to ensure everybody that healthy people do not die because of dental/gum abscess or pericoronitis. In those rare cases of which some articles can be read, patients were affected by additional diseases and their immune system was already seriously compromised. So people in normal health situation are safe and do not have to worry. It is true, pericoronitis, abscesses and caries are infections and infections are very dangerous but infections are caused by bacteria and there are more than a billion of bacteria species that's why infections can be moderate (dental abscess or pericoronitis) or severe.
If you are interested in more info about oral cavity bacteria, you can read this article onto wikipedia

Hi all,

My bottom left wisdom tooth has been crowning for about a year. It hasn't fully come in, and quite frankly I doubt it ever will as it looks crooked. Every so often I get some pain and swelling in that area, but it usually calms down within a few days. The pain and swelling has flared up again, but this time I went t Dr. Google and scared myself silly. I came to the conclusion that it's most likely pericoronitis, but if that's the case, that means an infection is present.

Most likely you are right, it is a pericoronitis that can be caused by both slow tooth growth and/or small food particles trapped between the gingival flaps and retained by the partial dental crown. If this is your case, there is nothing else to do than go to your dentist who will clean the inflamed area and adjust the prosthetic crown in order to avoid that food particles retention will cause the infection to restart.

I went t Dr. Google and scared myself silly

Google is a very bad doctor because it says everything and the contrary of everything so the only doctor/dentist that is reliable it that one who visit you before to do a diagnosis

..... I've also been swishing warm salt water around in my mouth. Today, the pain subsided considerably, and the swelling went down a tad.

Warm salt water is a temporary home remedy that can work if the inflammation is at its early stage but, in severe cases an antibacterial mouthwash with chlorhexidine works much more better (In the United States only doctors or dentists can prescribe chlorhexidine products while in UK and UE chlorhexidine is an over-the-counter mouthwash).

....Does this sound like an infection or an abscess?

An abscess is an infection so there is no difference between them.
Since there are different types of abscesses: periodontal (in the gengival tissue around the affected tooth) and periapical (close to the root's tip of the infected tooth), I strongly suggest you to call your dentist as soon as possible in order to avoid the infection to spread to other areas. This article can better describe you what abscesses are and how to treat them.

I didn't write additional information about abscess because I do not want to bore anyone but feel free to add your questions/doubts down below and I'll be more than happy to answer (if I can)

I hope this can be useful to somebody in the future !!!

[CAUTION] If you are already taking depression medications (antidepressants), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or any other kind of medications, let your dentist know about that just to avoid drugs interactions !!!