Has anyone had a gum abscess? Was your tooth extracted?

[Freemysoup]

I'll be calling the dentist this morning as soon as it opens. But I'm really worried. I've had slight pain on my gum since 2 days and have been using a slat rinse but yesterday it swelled up and feels sore and the tooth is throbbing slightly too.

Google tells me it might be an abscess and root canal or tooth extraction is the treatment. Tbh I am panicking and have become really anxious as I have a fear of the dentist as it is.

Is extraction or root canal the only options. I am so so dreading going this morning and I can't sleep for worrying.

I’ve had a couple of abbess's. Each time antibiotics then root canal. Honestly a root canal was just like a normal filling, as long as they give you plenty of numbing stuff.

A root canal done properly is honestly fine, they're so much less dramatic than they used to be.

Worst bit is holding your mouth open for the length of time it takes, makes your jaw ache!

Antibiotics first but if the abcess continues. Then have an apicectomy. It is gruesome but does save the tooth from.being pulled. Its open gum surgery, they go in through top.of the gum and remove the abcess abd stitch up. I've had two in.the same place. I had one under local and one general. I'd say go for a general.if you can. But it saves you losing a tooth.

SallyWD · Today 08:04

There's a difference between a tooth abscess and a gum abscess. I've had both! Tooth abscess: infection in the actual tooth.

My tooth was abscessed and the abscess kept forming a boil on my gum, which would burst, giving relief. Then it would form again. The dentist called it a gumboil.

@SallyWD I really hope its a him abscess not that I want any abscess.

I have an appt in an hour so hopefully not long to wait. The receptionist initially said there were none but managed to squeeze me in .

i had to take antibiotics for a few days before they would treat me to get rid of the infection. The options were RC or extraction. I had a split root and the dentist said there was a 50% chance of RC failure so I went for extraction. It's a back molar so you can't see it at all. It was also £90 v £1400.

Yes, I had an abscess under a wisdom tooth. The dentist whipped it straight out, and then sorted out the abscess. I had to go privately though.

Antibiotics cleared my most recent access 6 months ago, no root canal or extraction.

I had a crack on my back molar under the gumline which caused repeated infections no matter how diligent I was about mouth hygiene. I had three separate bouts of antibiotics over the years. It culminated in a massive infection which caused the side of my face to swell. Dentist said that the only course of action was an extraction. I had two lots of antibiotics to get rid of infection and then she whipped the tooth out. Took no time at all and the relief was immense.

Hope all goes well with you OP. It does seem scary but you'll be in the best place to get things sorted.

I just left it was top back so managed ok without if it was front I would have.

I have had my appt. It was a gum infection. The dentist put some anesthetic around the tooth and cleaned it. He also took an X ray and it's not looking good. I've a lot of bone loss in there and so has booked me in for an appt in a couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your help.

Sorry to hear that. Exactly what I've had for years and have only just been referred to the hospital. If I was you I'd push for a hospital referral. There's stuff they can do that your dentist can't, like surgery to reduce the size of the gum pocket. They're going add something to my jaw bone (can't remember what it's called but it comes from animals bones) which will stimulate new bone growth there and (fingers crossed!) might save my teeth. I really wish I'd been referred years ago before I'd lost so much bone. Ince my dentist dud finally refer me it was very quick. Good luck with it all OP.

I've had several abscess' and ended up having root canals rather than choose an extraction. I found them to be fine. Once the area is anaesthetised I found the experience just like a filling although it takes longer.
Dentist has always treated the abscess first then treated the tooth once the infection has gone.
Will say I'm very frightened of tooth extraction and always have sedation at the dental hospital for this procedure so a root canal is always a lesser procedure for me.

Yes, had an abscess and despite everything the dentist did I lost the tooth. It's right at the back so I may get around to having an implant one day, maybe.

I had a root canal for an abscess on one of my front teeth just before Christmas. 2 rounds of antibiotics hadn't got rid of it so it was my only option if I wanted to try and save the tooth.

And I was really worried and scared. The reputation of root canal was terrifying.

But it was fine. Really and truly. Took just over an hour and I barely felt a thing.

By the next day there was none of the pain or swelling.

2 weeks later, it's absolutely fine.

Try not to worry OP. If you do need a root canal they're not like they used to be.

Good luck!

I had an abscess so big my cheek was swollen so much my glasses couldn't sit straight! I had a week of antibiotics before having the tooth removed. The tooth was cracked at the root and came out in pieces. Was glad for it to be gone!

You'll be fine though. You'll get an injection so won't feel the removal. I was on paracetamol and a soft food diet for a couple of days then was fine.

I had an infection under the roots of a previously root filled molar. Antibiotics worked but the infection came back every three months or so. Dentist offered to re-do the root filling but said that there was a really high chance of it failing. Was going to cost £1000 plus the cost of a crown. Decided to have it extracted in the end. It took me a year to make this decision so suffered lots of infections. I was petrified of extraction. In the end it took under a minute to remove the tooth with no pain at all. Good luck.

All these examples are tooth abscesses. OP has a gum abscess which is different and can't be treated with root canal etc

Oh sorry, I didn't realise that there was a difference.

Op ignore my comment.