Tag Archives: tooth extraction

Dental Emergency

How dangerous is an infected tooth?

So here’s the deal… I think I have a broken molar. It’s way in the back right next to the spot where my wisdom tooth used to be. I have very painful sensations in my cheek and jaw and up into my sinuses. Now the pain has radiated to my head, ear, and even into my neck. The best way to describe it is that the pain starts in my ear and moves all the way around into my neck.

Do you think this is a dental emergency? I don’t have dental insurance and don’t have the money for a tooth extraction? It may not be the tooth at all and maybe is more related to my sinuses. Can you tell me if I’m in any danger or give me an idea of what is going on?

– Cindy in Georgia

Cindy,

What you have described sounds very dangerous. It sounds like you have a tooth infection from the broken tooth. And now it is spreading which will continue if you don’t get it taken care of as soon as possible.

You may check with a local hospital or dental agency to see if they will help you out. Many areas will treat residents that need serious procedures done. Keep calling around and if you can’t find someone to help, just go to the emergency room. They will be able to help you temporarily.

Antibiotics is important to treat the infection. But most importantly you need to have the tooth taken out or repaired so the you don’t build up resistance to the antibiotic. If you only take the antibiotic and don’t take care of the tooth, you risk a more serious problem than you already have. The reason for this is that the medication will not get inside the infected tooth. What needs to be done is a tooth extraction or root canal treatment.

Act soon before it gets worse!

This post is sponsored by Gilbert dentist Vista Dorada Dental.

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Pediatric Dentistry

Space Maintainers for Children

My daughter is six years old and has two broken baby molars. Tooth decay caused the problem and our dentist recommended extraction since they are infected. Is that my only option? 

Kathy from Nevada

Kathy,

When a child’s baby molars are infected, extraction is required. Typically when a tooth is infected a root canal can be performed. But, due to the shape of the roots on a child’s molar, it is not possible to do root canal treatments. That is why the tooth extraction has been recommended. It is important you follow through with this. If this condition is left untreated, the infection will affect her permanent teeth that are still developing.

It is likely that the dentist will want to put in some space maintainers. This will help hold the space where each tooth is removed. Your daughter’s permanent molars will be coming in very soon behind the baby molars. There are other problems that could occur if the space maintainers are not used. For example, the permanent molars can drift forward and this will block out the permanent premolars from coming in normally.

For more information, read more about pediatric dentistry and family dentistry.