Question about abscessed tooth.?

Question

The dentist has told me I have an abscessed tooth, and I need a root Canal. Unfortunatly my parents said we can't afford a root canal so I am just going to get a filling. Is this ok? What will happen if we wait another year?

Also I wanted to know how long it would take the infection to spread to the jaw bone, and kill tissue, possibly enter the blood stream, and be very harmfull. How long would that take?

Thanks.

Nebula, can I have your email?
or anybody elses to talk about this please.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm a dentist.

If the tooth is indeed abscessed, then a filling is not appropriate.
In such cases, removing the source of the infection is necessary. One way or another, the pulp of the tooth has to come out of your head, with or without the tooth surrounding it.

As far as the infection spreading, it is already in your jaw bone. At first, it is localized to the periodontal ligament, but such infections often "eat through" the ligament and begin destroying bone around the tip of the tooth's root. The infection may then exit the jaw bone from the cheek-side or tongue-side, and depending on where it makes its exit (i.e. above or below certain muscle attachments), it can create large infections that cause swelling of your face, floor of mouth, throat, etc. that can potentially kill you by cutting off your airway.

Spreading to the blood stream, i.e. sepsis, is generally far off provided your immune system is functioning normally. If you are diabetic, have AIDS, or take steroids chronically, then treatment of your infection should be even more aggressive.

Generally, in situations such as yours, I offer my patients a procedure called a "pulpectomy", which involves removal of the tooth's pulp. This is not in any way a final procedure. It is simply perfomed to quickly take you out of pain and eliminate the infectious source. I use it to allow my patients a few months to accrue their funds for a root canal.

A pulpectomized tooth, while no longer possessing an infected pulp, is still at significant risk of developing infection because it is now a biological dead-space. Thus, you should not have a tooth pulpectomized unless you TRULY plan on having a root canal performed on it later.

Answer 2

It is NEVER a good idea to leave a source of infection in the body. So no it is not okay to leave it, either have the root canal or have it extracted. The longer you leave it, the worse it will get, and the more damage it will do. Leaving this abscess can lead to more bone destruction and make things worse down the road. So don't leave it, again either extract or find a way to get the money for the root canal. How long it would take to enter the blood stream? There is no definitive answer, could be today, could be a month from now. The point is you don't want this to happen. You can DIE. Did you know that? Because the source of the infection is so close to the dural sinuses in the brain, means that you could be in serious trouble if you let the infection get to this point. Have it taken care of. Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi! I've been in dentistry for over 25 years and the answer is save the tooth. A root canal now is a cake walk and loosing a tooth is nightmare unless you do an implant. Your teeth will shift, the tooth above will drop and after time a bridge will cost you more. So do this. Ask the dentist if the cost of root canal and crown are worth it or should you do an extraction and implant. It balances out to the same monies. And the implant will last you 200 years or until a nuclear attack. I make my patients do the implant because root canaled teeth typically fail after 10 years and why spend 2500. now when an implant and crown are the same. My only exception is front teeth. So have a heart to heart with your dentist and have him explain both options and in the long run what is best for you. I have no desire to do a RCT and Post and core and crown to yank out the tooth in 5 years to do an implant. I have 11 implants myself because most root canals do fail and the root structure is compromise. Why waste the time and monies now. As far as pain, a root canal is simple. An extraction is only sore for 1-2 days at best. There is no reason to make a decision based on that. Just what is best in the long run. Pain meds will stop it either way. M

Answer 4

I don't know how long it would take for all the bad, bad things to happen. But you either need to get the root canal, or have the bad tooth pulled. If your parents talk to the dentist and explain their lack of funds, he may be able to arrange for them to make small payments which are within their budget. If that doesn't work, I'd look into going to the nearest Health Department in your state.

Best wishes! :)

Answer 5

Maybe your parents could talk to the dentist office staff about payment arrangements. Maybe they will let your parents work out a payment plan. Ask it wouldn't hurt. I just wouldn't take any chances with infection.

Answer 6

http://www.cpvh.com/Articles/41.html
http://www.healthline.com/search?q1=tooth+abscess&utm_source=no_health_channel&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=serp&utm_term=tooth%20abcess
http://experts.about.com/q/Dentistry-966/Abcessed-tooth-4.htm
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/DentalHealth/messages/575.html
It is an infection, needs antibiotics, and immediate treatment.

Answer 7

your parents can afford it, they just don't want to afford it. get the extraction and hate them later.