What is a Dental Infection?

If your oral hygiene habits aren’t that good, you would have to deal with a dental infection sooner than later.

A dental infection causes abscess and pus to fill the teeth, gums, or in unchecked cases, may fill the bones that hold the teeth together. It is mainly caused by a bacterial infection. Dental infection needs immediate care and attention because without proper treatment it can spread over a larger area of gums and teeth. Read on to know more about dental infection and how to treat it.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Dental Infection?

If your oral cavity does get infected by an abscess, then the following are the symptoms that you could experience:

• Redness and swelling of the face
• Bad breath and permanent unpleasant taste in the mouth
• Intense and a throbbing pain in your gums that starts all of a sudden and then escalates
• Exaggerated sensitivity towards hot and cold beverages and food
• Pain extending to the ear and neck on the same side as the hurting gums.
• Swollen and shiny red gums.
• Pain that increases when you are lying down so much so that it disturbs your sleep.

In addition to this, there are other related conditions like fever and constant discomfort that interferes with day to day living. In a severe case, it could also be the condition that you find it difficult to open your mouth fully swallow food and sometimes labored breathing.

Getting Relief from the Symptoms

While going to the dentist is inevitable and should not be delayed at all, there are some ways in which you can get temporary relief from the dental infection symptoms.

• Ibuprofen is one such over the counter medication that you can take for the time being.

• You could try to avoid eating things that are too hot or too cold if you have experienced the hypersensitivity lately.
• Try switching to soft, easily chewable foods and use the unaffected side of your mouth to chew.
• Use a softer toothbrush and avoid flossing the affected tooth till the ailment subsides.

Dental infection occurs due to factors like poor oral hygiene, frequent ingestion of sugary and starchy foods, a weak immune system or an infected injury. It can be prevented by regular use of floss and the use of fluoride toothpaste.

Get regular dental checkups and cut down on sugary foods, particularly before going to bed for the night.