Broken Tooth and Infection
If you have broken, cracked, or damaged a tooth, aesthetics might be the first thing on your mind, and understandably so! However, if you have a tooth that has broken off or fallen out, and it is not treated professionally, this can have various consequences for your oral and overall health. These consequences can include:
* Increased sensitivity: If a tooth has broken off, the remaining stub often reacts with pain to hot, cold, sweet, or sour food and drinks.
* Discoloration: If the damaged tooth or tooth stub turns brown or black, this indicates tooth decay or a dead tooth root.
* Inflammation: Mostly caused by food particles stuck to the damaged tooth or in the gap between the teeth, in which bacteria can easily multiply.
* Pus formation: When the pulp of the tooth becomes inflamed, it can lead to painful inflammation (pulpitis). Pus can form in the gum pockets.
Infection
Dental infection occurs due to a proliferation of bacteria, and it is very important to treat it before it can cause serious damage. Inflammation of the gums and periodontitis can also cause a dental infection. In this case, the infection is due to bacteria that affect the gum and which, in the case of periodontitis, settle in the periodontal pockets where they multiply undisturbed. If you have a broken tooth, even if there is no pain associated with it when it broke, infection can still happen. Sometimes, a deep fracture of a tooth is seen by your immune system as a foreign body, and this can activate a reaction by the body, causing symptoms of infection as well.
Regardless of whether a broken tooth is due to trauma or an accident, or if the tooth was broken through use or age, it is important to see a dentist.
Symptoms of tooth infection
A tooth infection is initially silent. The inflammation is often only noticed once the bacteria have multiplied and migrated to the root of the tooth. In the meantime, the teeth may be more sensitive than usual, so cold or heat can cause uncomfortable discomfort.
As the germs spread, the symptoms increase. If tooth infection has reached the root tip, the bacteria spread further in the body and first infect the surrounding tissue and the bone. At this point, the tooth root inflammation is usually recognized by the sudden onset of severe and stabbing pain. Cold or heat stimuli when eating and drinking can also affect the inflamed tooth.
How to cure a dental infection
In the initial phase of any infection, it is usually necessary for your dentist to prescribe drug therapy to block and fight the advance of bacteria in the body. Antibiotics are the type of drugs needed to win this battle, while anti-inflammatory drugs are used to relieve inflammation. If the pain caused by the infection is unbearable, painkillers can be used.
However, drug therapy must be associated with the treatment of removing the cause of the infection: that is, solving the dental problem. In case of caries with involvement of the pulp, root canal treatment is performed; with this type of surgery, the pulp is removed, and the root canals are cleaned, disinfected, and sealed. After the treatment, the tooth is reconstructed.