Abscess on Tooth?


Question:
I'm pretty sure I have an abscess resulting from my top left wisdom tooth I have a dentist's appointment on Tuesday morning, and it is now Friday night. The abscess is not bleeding profusely, but when I stick a Q-tip or tissue on it, slight blood residue is left on it. It's a relatively small swollen lump, and I just noticed it last night. Is this something urgent that I need to go to the emergency room for, or can it wait until Tuesday morning when I go to the dentist?

Ironically, my appointment for Tuesday was to get that wisdom tooth pulled, but I guess since it now has this, I will have to delay pulling it until I can take antibiotics to get rid of the abscess. Is that right?

Answers:
If your dentist has an 24 hour emergency service, I would call him first. If he doesn't have an emergency service, you may want to go to the ER. An abscess can be really bad if it gets out of control and the infection goes into your blood stream. Play it safe and get it checked out.

Other Answers:
It may be an abscess or it could be infected gum tissue that is around the wisdom tooth. Is the tooth sensitive to hot or cold? Do you have pain when biting down on it? Does it ever wake you up at night? If yes, than it could be an abscess. If the gum tissue is the only thing that is bothering you, it could be just infected gum tissue. As long as you are not having any severe swelling that is making it difficult to breath, you should be ok to wait til Tuesday. Hope this answers your questions. Good luck
It is probably an infection. You know when you have an abscess tooth because it is very painful, sensitive to hot and cold and it will hurt if you tap on it. Get it pulled, that's the best way to heal it because it allows it to drain. You will also want to go on antibiotics.
It is not a major emergency as long as you can stand the discomfort. Yes you are right, about having to be on an antibiotic. If you have some at home, start ataking them as directed to get rid of the infection. If not call you dentist tomorrow and see if he can call you something in so that you can start taking them right away. That was by tuesday you will be able to get the tooth extracted. Also taking the antibiotic will help the discomfort, it will start to subside in 24 to 48 hours. The reason why you can not have it out when you have an infection, is because the anestectic will not get you numb when there is an infection.

So call him or her up get on an antibiotic and you'll be fine and should be able to keep your tuesday apt.
If the appointment is to pull the tooth, then you are an existing patient. You should call the dentist (I would assume that his office has an answering machine or service that would give you his cell or pager number, ours gives my dentists cell). Call him in the morning and tell him that the tooth that he is scheduled to extract Tuesday has abcessed and ask him to call you in some antibiotics so that the abcess will at least go down by Tuesday. My dentist does this all the time.
as you are telling that your appointment is on tuesday you can go with antibiotics and analgesic for three days... you have not mentioned your age... it might be 11to 13 years so preferably you take lower dose antibiotics... and you can get it extracted on tuesday... [dentist]


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