Best medicine for swollen tooth
Medicine may reduce pain from a swollen tooth or gum, but swelling caused by decay or infection usually needs dental treatment to remove the source.
What is the direct answer?
Medicine may reduce pain from a swollen tooth or gum, but swelling caused by decay or infection usually needs dental treatment to remove the source.
What does this question mean?
Swelling can involve the gingiva, periodontal tissues, cheek, or tissues around a tooth root. Causes include an abscess, gum disease, food impaction, trauma, an erupting wisdom tooth, or a blocked salivary duct.
What can you do next?
Rinse gently, keep the area clean, use a cold pack outside the cheek for swelling, and take only medicine appropriate for your health history and label directions. Do not puncture the swelling or put chemicals on it.
When should you seek dental care?
Contact a dentist promptly for tooth swelling, fever, pus, worsening pain, or a bad taste. Go to emergency care for swelling that affects breathing or swallowing or spreads rapidly.
What should you ask the dentist?
Ask whether the swelling is an abscess, what examination or radiograph is needed, whether drainage or root canal treatment is required, and whether medicine is indicated.
Frequently asked questions
Can this symptom have more than one cause?
Swelling can involve the gingiva, periodontal tissues, cheek, or tissues around a tooth root. Causes include an abscess, gum disease, food impaction, trauma, an erupting wisdom tooth, or a blocked salivary duct.
What is the first practical step?
Rinse gently, keep the area clean, use a cold pack outside the cheek for swelling, and take only medicine appropriate for your health history and label directions. Do not puncture the swelling or put chemicals on it.