15 month old with possible tooth abscess

[Newbiehere123]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 15 month old dc and today I noticed a swollen bump which looked like a abscess on his top side gum. He has been on the late side of teething and has had 3 cut through and 2 mini white zig-zags just about appearing so far but was very late to have his first teeth coming through. The abscess is on top gum on the side and there is no sign of teeth coming through as he is nearly completing his front and bottom row tooth's. I take care of his dental hygiene very seriously and brush his teeth and gums twice a day. Today he has been crying in pain holding the side of his face where the abscess is.

Has anyone every experienced anything like this before? As he is so young and doesn't even have teeth there, is it even possible to have a abscess there? I have given him nurofen and asked for an emergency dentist appointment and will take him tomorrow afternoon. Also, I'm worried how he will cope on the dental chair and how he is going to be examined as he never lets me check his teeth out even on a good day, so I'm dreading tomorrow for him as he is in so much pain and how we will manage the examination.

I look forward to anyone's experience in this.

Thank you in advance.

I’m pretty sure it can’t possibly be an abscess. Much more likely to be an erupting tooth. No harm in getting it looked at though.

Could it be an eruption cyst perhaps?
Does your child have a fever or otherwise seem unwell?

Fingers crossed it isn't as the pain of a abscess is unbearable for adults let alone a baby :( he was crying in pain so much today and it's the first time I've ever seen him in that much pain compared to before when his teeth were cutting through. When I spoke to the dentist today, he said it is not possible but there is a small possibility.

I agree it will be an eruption cyst. He won't sit in the chair, he will sit on your knee. If he needs any dental care he will be referred to the hospital and he would have it under sedation. eruption cysts usually go away when the tooth is through.

My son had a cyst or a gum boil and you can see a build up of pus,

eruption cysts are blue/blackish coloured.

@TinnedPearsForPudding and @LordOftheRingz thank you for your replies. I've just googled it as soon as you mentioned eruption cyst. It could be to be honest as it's above his first molars but it mentions it being a dark colour/blue ish and this thing is sort of his gum colour with a white dot on it. He has completed his bottom incisors, top incisors only one is out and second one just cut through and bottom lateral incisor has just cut through. There is nothing else on sight at the moment. I'm so inexperienced with this as he is my first.

could the white dot be the tooth?

@TinnedPearsForPudding no fever but was very quiet today which is very unusual as he is very active and verbal but this was until the evening where he was crying so much holding that side of his face.

@LordOftheRingz the cyst/boil seems to be a bit higher than where his teeth would normally cut through. So imagine the gums being separated like mini squares, the cyst is above that square in question.

Hi everyone,

I took DS to the dentist yesterday and the dentist had a good look at it and said there is nothing there to concern. No cut, no sign of infection/inflammation and no buildup of fluid. He said the cyst is connected to the teething activity. I feel a bit stupid now lol. I also asked as DS is on the late side of teething compared to other babies similar age as he has 3 grown and 2 mini zig-zags on the horizon, so total of 5 and is almost 16 months and again he said no to worry.

I thought I'd share the update in case someone looks up a similar concern in the future and wonder if it's possible for a nearly 16 month old to have a abscess, in our case no.

Thanks you everyone.

Great news.