Dental abscesses are relatively common; most people will find themselves suffering from one at some point in their lives. Occurring when pus collects either inside a tooth or along the gum, or, more rarely, in the bone that holds the teeth in place, they are a source of discomfort and should be treated as soon as possible. If you put off seeing a dentist, you might really come to regret it.
Firstly, dental abscesses will not go away on their own, and neither will the pain that they are causing you. It might be tempting to take painkillers or perhaps even look at more natural pain relievers supplied by the likes of Area 52, as well as other dispensaries that can be found online. Assuming that the remedies you use will help you get over the pain until the problem subsides and you’re able to minimise the infection yourself. What will happen instead is that the abscess will grow, often becoming too painful to be subdued by even the maximum allowable dosage of an over-the-counter painkiller. This pain will grow until you have trouble chewing, or even talking.
However, pain is not the most important complication that will occur as a result of an untreated abscess. In fact, that small local infection can spread to the muscle and bone that surround the affected area – it can then spread to other parts of the body by entering the blood stream.
Septicaemia refers to an infection of the blood; bacterial endocarditis refers to the introduction of bacteria to the heart; brain abscesses can occur when bacteria enters the tissue of the brain. These conditions are all extremely dangerous, potentially fatal, and often life-changing. Unfortunately, all of them can be caused by nothing more than an untreated oral abscess.
These conditions are rare, though that doesn’t mean that you should ignore them. In any case, a dental abscess if going to have to be treated eventually, even if the infection doesn’t spread. Caught early, they can simply be lanced, drained, and treated with some oral antibiotics. That might not sound like too much fun, but leaving an abscess untreated can result in the need for a root canal, or possibly require the full extraction of the affected tooth. A tooth extraction is an extremely painful procedure, which tends to leave the patient under the treatment of prescription painkillers like Vicodin (if interested, you could know the street value of Vicodin here) to subdue the pain.
Thus, leaving an abscess untreated is never a good idea, so make sure you consult a dentist as soon as you notice that you’ve developed one.
