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An Abscessed Tooth Is a Bacterial Infection

Tooth pain is what usually brings someone with a dental abscess into the dentist's office. These teeth infections can be painful affairs, sometimes accompanied by shooting pains up and down the face. Even if you hate going to the dentist, you'll find that abscessed tooth pain is far worse.

Tooth abscesses are often accompanied by swelling in the cheek or oral tissues. However, sometimes abscessed teeth may have no visible swelling or little pain, so it's important not to wait until you're in severe pain to see a dentist.

If you're diagnosed with an abscessed tooth, you generally have two treatment options: get a root canal, or have the tooth extracted. The tooth infection is deep down inside the tooth root, and the only way to cure it is to clean it out.

Root canal treatment lets you save a tooth even when the tooth's root has become infected. An endodontist or root canal dentist will open up your tooth, clean out the infected pulp inside, and replace the damaged tissue with an inert material. Once a dental crown is placed, you're left with a tooth that looks and feels just like all the others in your mouth.

Tooth extraction is also known as "pulling a tooth." Thanks to modern dental anesthetics, it's not as painful as cartoons might lead you to believe. Your dentist will explain your options for replacing the tooth. Some people opt for dental implant surgery, while others choose a dental bridge or partial denture.

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Dental Visits - The Endodontic Examination Appointment

On most occasions, the endodontic examination and the endodontic consultation take place at the same visit. Most dentists prefer this. This section will look at each process separately.

What Is the Purpose of the Endodontic Examination?

The purpose of the endodontic examination is to determine the state of health of the pulpal tissues of a tooth or group of teeth. The dentist hopes to collect specific information to assist in diagnosis and treatment planning. During the examination portion of the visit, the dentist will:

• Review the patient's medical history and evaluate the patient's current medical status and in order to determine how it might influence the dental diagnosis and/or treatment plan.
• Review the patient's dental history and, in particular, its relationship to the specific reason for the visit, also called the "chief complaint."
• Perform a thorough clinical examination.
• Perform certain endodontic tooth tests to help establish an accurate diagnosis of the condition of the pulpal tissue.
• Perform a radiographic examination. Two or three different radiographic angles of the same area are often required to adequately visualize the various teeth, the root canal spaces within each tooth, and the surrounding bone and structures. Since a single radiograph is a two-dimensional picture of a three-dimensional object, two or more radiographs with different angulations can provide important additional information. Radiographs reveal many things that the dentist is unable to see with the clinical examination alone.

What Is the Purpose of the Endodontic Consultation?

The purpose of the endodontic consultation is to present a root canal treatment plan to the patient. Once the dentist has collected and evaluated all of the diagnostic information, the goals of the consultation visit are to:

• Share the examination findings and the resultant diagnosis with the patient.
• Discuss the prognosis.
• Discuss the treatment recommendations and any perceived complications.
• Discuss the treatment alternatives and their respective ramifications.
• Discuss the number and length of appointments necessary to complete the recommended treatment.
• Review the cost of the recommended treatment and the various treatment options.
• Answer questions that the patient may have regarding the diagnosis and various treatment options.

On occasion, the dentist may need to consult with other professionals or obtain additional information before all of the goals listed above can be accomplished.

By Clifford J. Ruddle, DDS, in collaboration with Philip M. Smith, DDS