Treatment for a Tooth Abscess typically begins with treatment aimed at clearing the site of infection. Treatment methods may vary depending on the extent of infection and how far it has spread. Treatment involves the use of dental procedures and antibiotics for Tooth Abscess. Procedures to treat the Tooth Abscess could include: Incising and draining the abscess: Your dentist will make small incisions into the abscess to evacuate the pus, after which the site needs to be rinsed with a saline solution. Root canal: A root canal is often performed to salvage the tooth after the infection clears, but it is often used as the first approach to treat a tooth abscess. Your dentist will remove the infected dental pulp by drilling into the affected tooth and the abscess will also be drained simultaneously. The root canal and pulp chamber are then filled and sealed and the tooth is usually crowned to strengthen it. With proper dental care and oral hygiene, the tooth should serve you well the rest of your life. Tooth extraction: Most often, the infection is too severe or has progressed too far for the tooth to be salvaged. Your dentist will be left with no choice but to extract the tooth and drain the tooth abscess in order to get rid of the infection. Antibiotic medications: The use of antibiotic medications as a tooth abscess treatment is greatly restricted because it is far more effective to drain the infected tooth. The rampant and irresponsible use of antibiotics over the past decades has led to a rise in bacterial resistance increasing the risk of infections and renders these antibiotics ineffective when they are actually required. Dentists generally do not recommend the use of antibiotics if the infection is limited to a single tooth. The use of antibiotics for tooth abscesses is best reserved for situations where the infection has spread or if the patient has a weak and compromised immune system.
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