Help!!! my left side of my cheek/mouth is swollen!! what do i do?!?!
Question: Help!!! my left side of my cheek/mouth is swollen!! what do i do.?!.?
Help!! the left side of my mouth/cheek is all swollen! i can feel a big bump clearly with my fingers on the upper part of my upper gum, on the outside part...its kind of hard to explain...it's like the inside skin of my cheek, but where that part joins with my gum. and now, the swell seems to be getting bigger because i feel a slight bump on the outside of my face (upper cheek)!!! help! please...if u think what it may be or how i got this big infection inside of my mouth, tell me! and also, should i go to the hospital for this.?.? im just afraid that its going to get bigger and bigger Health Question & Answer
Answers:
Certainly sounds like an abscess.
An Abscess is a SERIOUS a very serious tooth INFECTION which sounds as though it's spread to the soft skin tissue of the cheek, and WILL spread if you do not see a dentist very very soon. (Basically as soon as you possibly can).
Dental abscesses can be dormant at the root of the tooth (Periapical abscess) for months, even years- and are still considered 'serious'. Yet, when swelling occurs and usually an extremely sharp painful throbbing accompanies (but not always), this is a very serious stage. Any swelling indicates the infection is spreading, and can spread extremley quickly into the facial tissue and or surrounding bone and into the blood stream if left (which leads to septicimia- blood poisining).
How you get infections in the tooth.?:
- A dental cavity no matter how small may have become infected by a stray piece of food
- If you place 'foreign objects' into the mouth say a pen for instance, and chew on it - bacteria moves into the mouth
- Not brushing teeth routinley
- Having a dental cavity that hasn't been treated by a dentist, or if you haven't had a dental check up routinley, the risk is alot greater.
Dental abscesses depending on the severity will be treated by a dentist in one of two ways:
- Root Canal Therapy (For abscesses which can be 'treated'- if the tooth hasn't been damaged greatly and can withstand drilling and treatment).
- Dental Extraction (Simple extraction done by the dentist under Local anesthetic- meaning they don't put you to sleep, and you have a 'numbing' injection. Extraction meaning removal of the tooth and drainage of the abscess).
You really really need to get to a dentist as soon as possible, i'm telling you this not to scare you, but I was foolish enough a few months ago- due to a HUGE fear of dentists to let a dental abscess reach the point where I got sick. I had similar symptoms to what you are experiencing, and I decided - or told myself really that it would go away and it'd be fine, because I had NO pain whatsoever, and everything I'd read and been told was that dental abscesses hurt like hell!
For three days I left it, and the swelling was so bad that I had really no way of eating or drinking properly, and my speech was becoming affected. There was no pain still, three days later when my mum decided to go ahead and book an appointment with the dentist, even when I told her not to (once again because I had a huge huge huge fear of dentists and hadn't been to one in 9 years prior to that).
When we went to book, he couldn't see me, that day- because he had emergency appointments that day- but he'd book me in for 6.30 am the next morning, because it was very serious - and he knew that by just looking at it from the outside of my mouth (the cheek swelling gave it all away).
He ordered me to go straight away to the hospital to get my x-rays done (two dental x-rays). and to grab a script for 500mg of Amoxycillin (antibiotics) and to start taking them straight away.
The next morning when I did get to see the dentist, and he'd looked over the xrays carefully with a senior dentist from the surgery, they explained that the abscess had actually started to eat away the bone in my jaw, and that I had a quite large portion of my lower jaw (the left side) missing.
The dental abscess had been there for quite a while, but hadn't caused any 'visual' problems to me, so no one had known.
The swelling was also very advanced, and the abscess had created what's called a 'fitsula' which is a tunnel created by the pressure of the abscess that spreads the infection to other parts beyond the 'root' of the tooth. Seeing as this was a 'periapical' (root) abscess, it had spread not only to my jaw and to my cheek, but it was beginning to swell into my neck, which if left any longer could've cut off my airway from swelling.
They told me, had I left it a SINGLE day longer I would've been in hospital with Meningitis (Brain infection- swelling of the lining of the brain) and/or Blood Posioning, because yes- infact dental abscesses are EXTREMLEY serious, and it had spread a very long way, because I was stupid enough not to get it seen to when I first noticed it.
ANY swelling they told me is the ADVANCED stage of an abscess, and must be taken extremley seriously so you NEED TO GO TO A DENTIST ASAP.
Don't be an idiot like I was, get it seen to.
Honestly, I've had three teeth extracted now, due to dental (periapical) abscesses, and it didn't hurt in the slightest. The dentist told me I'd need to take a few painkillers after the extractions, and I didn't need a single one.
My fear of dentists to say safley now- Is completely Cured.
I've been to the dentist now 12 times since that first 'emergency' appointment, and I have absolutley NO problem with them now.
Infact, I get along well with the surgery now, and have applied for their 'dental assistant' job as my dentist asked me to apply, due to Health Question & Answer
An Abscess is a SERIOUS a very serious tooth INFECTION which sounds as though it's spread to the soft skin tissue of the cheek, and WILL spread if you do not see a dentist very very soon. (Basically as soon as you possibly can).
Dental abscesses can be dormant at the root of the tooth (Periapical abscess) for months, even years- and are still considered 'serious'. Yet, when swelling occurs and usually an extremely sharp painful throbbing accompanies (but not always), this is a very serious stage. Any swelling indicates the infection is spreading, and can spread extremley quickly into the facial tissue and or surrounding bone and into the blood stream if left (which leads to septicimia- blood poisining).
How you get infections in the tooth.?:
- A dental cavity no matter how small may have become infected by a stray piece of food
- If you place 'foreign objects' into the mouth say a pen for instance, and chew on it - bacteria moves into the mouth
- Not brushing teeth routinley
- Having a dental cavity that hasn't been treated by a dentist, or if you haven't had a dental check up routinley, the risk is alot greater.
Dental abscesses depending on the severity will be treated by a dentist in one of two ways:
- Root Canal Therapy (For abscesses which can be 'treated'- if the tooth hasn't been damaged greatly and can withstand drilling and treatment).
- Dental Extraction (Simple extraction done by the dentist under Local anesthetic- meaning they don't put you to sleep, and you have a 'numbing' injection. Extraction meaning removal of the tooth and drainage of the abscess).
You really really need to get to a dentist as soon as possible, i'm telling you this not to scare you, but I was foolish enough a few months ago- due to a HUGE fear of dentists to let a dental abscess reach the point where I got sick. I had similar symptoms to what you are experiencing, and I decided - or told myself really that it would go away and it'd be fine, because I had NO pain whatsoever, and everything I'd read and been told was that dental abscesses hurt like hell!
For three days I left it, and the swelling was so bad that I had really no way of eating or drinking properly, and my speech was becoming affected. There was no pain still, three days later when my mum decided to go ahead and book an appointment with the dentist, even when I told her not to (once again because I had a huge huge huge fear of dentists and hadn't been to one in 9 years prior to that).
When we went to book, he couldn't see me, that day- because he had emergency appointments that day- but he'd book me in for 6.30 am the next morning, because it was very serious - and he knew that by just looking at it from the outside of my mouth (the cheek swelling gave it all away).
He ordered me to go straight away to the hospital to get my x-rays done (two dental x-rays). and to grab a script for 500mg of Amoxycillin (antibiotics) and to start taking them straight away.
The next morning when I did get to see the dentist, and he'd looked over the xrays carefully with a senior dentist from the surgery, they explained that the abscess had actually started to eat away the bone in my jaw, and that I had a quite large portion of my lower jaw (the left side) missing.
The dental abscess had been there for quite a while, but hadn't caused any 'visual' problems to me, so no one had known.
The swelling was also very advanced, and the abscess had created what's called a 'fitsula' which is a tunnel created by the pressure of the abscess that spreads the infection to other parts beyond the 'root' of the tooth. Seeing as this was a 'periapical' (root) abscess, it had spread not only to my jaw and to my cheek, but it was beginning to swell into my neck, which if left any longer could've cut off my airway from swelling.
They told me, had I left it a SINGLE day longer I would've been in hospital with Meningitis (Brain infection- swelling of the lining of the brain) and/or Blood Posioning, because yes- infact dental abscesses are EXTREMLEY serious, and it had spread a very long way, because I was stupid enough not to get it seen to when I first noticed it.
ANY swelling they told me is the ADVANCED stage of an abscess, and must be taken extremley seriously so you NEED TO GO TO A DENTIST ASAP.
Don't be an idiot like I was, get it seen to.
Honestly, I've had three teeth extracted now, due to dental (periapical) abscesses, and it didn't hurt in the slightest. The dentist told me I'd need to take a few painkillers after the extractions, and I didn't need a single one.
My fear of dentists to say safley now- Is completely Cured.
I've been to the dentist now 12 times since that first 'emergency' appointment, and I have absolutley NO problem with them now.
Infact, I get along well with the surgery now, and have applied for their 'dental assistant' job as my dentist asked me to apply, due to Health Question & Answer
First get a warm wash cloth to put on your cheek. Second gargle 1part Hydrogen peroxide to 2 parts water. Then put some Orajel on the sore spot inside your mouth ,it taste funny but, repeat as needed. If this doesn't help within a couple of days call the dentist Health Question & Answer
i would suggest gargling warm salt water. sounds like you have a gum infection and i would advise you to go to your dentist especially if its painful. Health Question & Answer
It could possibly be an abscess and you would need a dentist to subscribe an antibiotic.Health Question & Answer