{"id":7003,"date":"2025-04-29T16:22:04","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vistadoradadental.com\/blog\/?p=7003"},"modified":"2025-04-29T16:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:22:04","slug":"does-a-tooth-infection-have-to-be-treated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vistadoradadental.com\/blog\/does-a-tooth-infection-have-to-be-treated\/","title":{"rendered":"Does a Tooth Infection HAVE to be Treated?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a tooth infection and my jaw is a bit swollen. Everyone is saying that I need to go to the dentist, but even though it hurts, I feel confident it will go away. I get sinus infections all the time and they go away with antibiotics. I have some left over that I’m taking, but my sister is driving me crazy about this and keeps telling me what I’m doing is dangerous. Can you tell her that it will be fine and will work itself out? <\/p>\n

Murray<\/p>\n\n

Dear Murray,<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Tooth infections are a bit different because at some point the pulp inside the tooth dies and then the antibiotics can not get to the infected part of the tooth. That infection spills out to other parts of the body. A dentist has to physically remove the infected pulp. There are only two ways to fully treat a tooth infection. The first is with a root canal treatment, which is ideal because it saves your tooth. The second is to extract the tooth. <\/p>\n

While the antibiotics may help you feel better for a bit and hold the infection at bay, once they run out the infection will flair back up. People die every year from untreated tooth infections because they mistakenly believe it is no big deal. <\/p>\n

If your jaw is swollen then yours is already spreading and you have a dental emergency<\/a>. I do think that you need to see a dentist. Hopefully, a root canal treatment will be sufficient. If not, then you’ll need to extract the tooth. It will also be important that you replace the tooth as well. Otherwise the adjacent teeth will shift or tip into the empty space, which will end up causing your bite to be thrown off. If you do need to replace the tooth, I recommend a dental implant<\/a>. It is the closest thing to having a healthy natural tooth. <\/p>\n

This blog is brought to you by Gilbert Dentist<\/a> Dr. Matt Roper. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a tooth infection and my jaw is a bit swollen. Everyone is saying that I need to go to the dentist, but even though it hurts, I feel confident it will go away. I get sinus infections all the time and they go away with antibiotics. I have some left over that I’m … Continue reading Does a Tooth Infection HAVE to be Treated?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[490],"tags":[120,13,61,562],"class_list":["post-7003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emergency-dentist","tag-root-canal-treatment","tag-tooth-extraction","tag-tooth-infection","tag-urgent-dental-care"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes a Tooth Infection HAVE to be Treated? - Vista Dorada Dental Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is a tooth infection serious enough that you have to see a dentist?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vistadoradadental.com\/blog\/does-a-tooth-infection-have-to-be-treated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does a Tooth Infection HAVE to be Treated? 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