Abscessed tooth

[KIERAN]

Hi

I have an abscessed tooth that has been throbbing all day today. I have taken so many painkillers but the pain is still there. Do you think that the tooth needs to come out or can I keep it with root canal work?

If I decide to keep this tooth, would I first need to have antibiotics to get rid of the infection before I have root canal treatment on the abscessed tooth? Is the root canal going to cause any pain or can it be done painlessly?

[Dr Ehsan J. Esfahani]

Dear Kieran,

Thank you for your post. I am sorry to here you are suffering with toothache. An abscessed tooth that is throbbing has infection of the pulp (nerve). Unfortunately painkillers are ineffective against tooth infection as you have experienced.

When a tooth has an infection there are 3 options.

The first and most effective option if the infection is not very severe and the tooth does not have a very hot pulp is to open the tooth, release the pressure and drain the infection. This is assuming the tooth can be saved and root canal treatment is the treatment you want to have. Following first stage root canal treatment antibiotics are given and this will reduce the pain you are experiencing significantly.

The second option is removal of the tooth. This will be necessary if the tooth has a poor long term prognosis. This option also relieves the pain quickly. Occasionally we will give you antibiotics to take for 5 days to reduce the level of infection and then book you in to have the tooth removed

The third option is to start a course of antibiotics to reduce the level of infection. Although this option gives you time to decide if you want to save the tooth it can sometimes take upto 2 days for the antibiotics to reach the site of the infection and start working.

Root canal treatment is not painful however sometimes total numbness of the tooth is not achieved and slight pain is felt during the first stage of the treatment. At Pearl Dental Clinic we have dentists who are very experienced at root canal work and will do all they can to ensure you will experiene minimal or no pain.