Showing posts with label abscess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abscess. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 October 2016

Relation between Dental issues and General health………..Fact/Myth????

Yes, teeth infection can really turn out to be serious issues. It’s hard to imagine how a toothache could turn deadly—but it can. Even mild or moderate dental discomfort quickly turns into a serious condition, known as an abscess - a pus-filled infection inside the tooth or between a tooth and the gum. 

No one has a precise explanation for the trend, but some experts speculate that the high cost, pain phobia, lack of awareness of dental treatment prevent many people from seeking routine dental care and perhaps delaying treatment when a dental problem occurs/arises.





Dr. Erin Sutton, a Fort Walton Beach dentist, pointed out the infection could either move to bone marrow or the bloodstream, causing sepsis and affecting major organs.


“Toothache leads to multi-organ dysfunction” Ms Mala, 26 yrs, lands in ICU, unable to drink, eat or speak. Never had she, imagined that lack of oral hygiene could prove so disastrous. What started as a simple toothache landed with multi-organ dysfunction. Mala survived three mild cardiac attacks and was on ventilator for two months before recovery.

When a toothache and swelling in her right jaw bothered, she, like any other youngster, thought pain killers would be the cure. However, those didn't help her in fact, the ache led to dental cellulitis and the swelling made its way to her throat, blocking the passage. An examination revealed the infection had spread to her vital organs and she was diagnosed with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. There was a shower of bacteria on her lungs and fluids in the lungs started accumulating around her heart. Besides, there was a clot in a vein that connects the heart, head and the neck region. Oral hygiene was compromised, leading to the spreading of anaerobic bacteria,"
“Ms Mala had a lot of cavities and didn’t bother to take care of them. It hit her only when she lost speech, couldn’t lie down and wasn’t even able to swallow water. It’s a rebirth for him.”

Friday, 9 September 2016

Abscessed tooth—A big Headache

Concise View
Dental abscess in a swelling filled with pus, the swelling in your body is result of body’s protective mechanism. It's the mechanism of arresting/preventing debris entering in blood stream from mouth via tooth or gums, a type of protective mechanism. Ideally abscess is caused by body trying to rid its self of harmful bacteria. If you are not suffering from this condition currently, probably you are lucky, still it’s good to be aware of potential consequences so as to keep yourself safe and healthy.




Potential causes of dental abscess 

  • Neglected oral hygiene
  • Decayed tooth
  • Trauma
  • Tooth fracture
  • Left over roots only 

    Abscessed tooth- affecting general health
    Body infection in general is the cause for alarm, as abscess has the tendency to not only locally damage the area but also spread and make condition potentially severe. Reason why tooth infection is different from general body infection:-

    ·        Jaw bone already has compromised blood supply so it limits healing potential by itself.


    ·        With increase in age, healing potential gets delayed.

    ·      If debris from oral cavity is entering gums/carious teeth, then it’s a unilateral entry so chances of abscess being drained down by itself is very limited.


    ·        Presence of abscess will make treatment more time consuming and eventful.


    ·     Treatment line depends on severity of abscess. In extremely severe condition to get an early relief one may have to sacrifice tooth/teeth, which could have been saved if approached to your dentist timely.

    a.      Other most important symptoms present along are
    1.      Fever
    2.      Bitter taste in mouth
    3.      Swollen jaw
    4.      Reddened gums
    5.      Bad breath
    6.      Sleepless nights
    7.      Loosening of tooth
    b.      To be on a serious note, abscessed tooth may lead to heart issues (bacterial endocarditis), full face infection there by restricting airways (Ludwig’s angina), transfer of infection to brain. 
    Treatment alternatives
    a.    Conservative approach – if patient’s condition permits, ROOT CANAL THERAPY, preferably the ideal choice followed by tooth crown/cap.
    b.       Extraction – if tooth is non- restorable or condition becomes severe.



    ** Emergency dental procedure can be costly, but preventative treatment is not