In dental practice, periodontal abscess is a fairly common occurrence. Among the population, many simply call it - an abscess on the gum. Home treatment may not always be possible. After all, in order for it to be effective, you need to find out the cause of the abscess. But still, some actions can be taken to improve well-being before going to the hospital. We’ll talk about this.
Types of abscesses on the gums
A prerequisite for the appearance of an abscess on the gum is the presence of infection. Its source, as a rule, is located either inside the dental unit, or on its root. Launched caries or incorrectly filled filling channels can create a situation when an abscess appears on the gums. Causes and treatment are usually interconnected. Simply put, in order to effectively eliminate an abscess, you need to understand what it was born from.
In appearance, suppuration in soft tissues can be different. Sometimes there is a swelling on the gums, covering a small area. After a while, a fistula appears in this area, filled with a muddy substance. This is pus. During the period of tissue thinning, the fistula breaks through and its contents come out.
In some cases, swelling of the gums is accompanied by swelling of the soft tissues of the lips, cheeks, and nose. This is already due to the localization of the focus of infection and the severity of the inflammatory process.
Symptoms
Everyone can face the fact that he will have an abscess on the gum. What to do? To begin with, we list the symptoms that accompany this phenomenon. During the progression of the disease, these symptoms usually intensify and cause the patient many unpleasant moments.
- Soft tissues swell and redden.
- Gum bleeding increases during brushing.
- Patients complain of increased sensitivity at the time of biting, pressure on the tooth located in the abscess area.
- There is a white fistula filled with purulent contents.
- The appearance of putrid odor from the mouth.
- Toothache, the origin of which is difficult to establish (the entire jaw bothers).
- The gums swell (from a small abscess to a size that distorts the shape of the face).
- There is an increased body temperature.
In addition to the above symptoms, an abscess is accompanied by the appearance of a fistula. After it bursts, pus when you click on the gum or spontaneously enters the oral cavity. In cases where the neoplasm is located too deep, its contents cannot go outside. Then granulomas or cysts form.
Causes of abscess on the gum
The causative agents of the inflammatory process are pathogenic bacteria located or entering the mouth (staphylococcus, streptococcus, pneumococcus, E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa).
For the gums of a healthy person, they are not dangerous. But if the tissues have undergone mechanical damage or were affected by any infection, then the active growth of bacteria begins. All this provokes the onset of inflammatory processes.
Factors Contributing to the Abscess
It will be useful for each person to familiarize themselves with information on factors that increase the risk of an abscess. This will, possibly, avoid the occurrence of an inflammatory process by warning it.
- Various mechanical damage to the gums, for example, after removal of a dental unit or installation of a prosthesis. You can also violate the integrity of tissues during hygiene procedures. Eating too hard food, you need to be extremely careful.
- Periodontal disease causes inflammation of the teeth. It can be triggered by malnutrition and poor oral hygiene.
- Periodontal disease leads to inflammation of the tissues from the top of the roots to the holes in which the teeth are located. All this can manifest itself due to running deep caries or an unprofessionally sealed canal.
- Failure of the immune system, for example, due to a common cold.
All these factors can lead to the appearance of an abscess on the gums, the treatment at home of which will be difficult to carry out.
What can not be done?
Of course, with the appearance of various inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, it is necessary to know at least that doctors do not recommend taking. After all, some actions can aggravate the situation.
- If there is an open wound that may bleed, do not apply a gauze bandage. Such actions can lead to the penetration of infection into the cavity. As a result, the tumor may increase in size.
- Pain can vary in intensity when an abscess appears on the gum. Treatment at home does not include the use of antibiotics, especially in childhood. This group of drugs should be prescribed only by a specialist.
- Doctors do not recommend taking Aspirin tablets to make you feel better. This drug is able to provoke bleeding.
- Do not eat too hot or cold food. Temperature differences can exacerbate pain.
- It is strictly forbidden by doctors to independently open the formed abscesses. After all, even an insignificant part of their contents (if it does not come out) can bring enormous harm to the patient.
Gums up: what to do at home?
The most harmless way to improve the condition when abscesses occur is to rinse with a soda solution. In order to cook it, you just need to dissolve a teaspoon of the powder in a glass of warm boiled water. You can rinse your mouth every half hour. The solution acts as a disinfectant. The activity of pathogenic microflora will be inhibited and a person will feel relief. However, if the abscess does not pass within a few days, there is no point in self-medicating. It is better to seek help from a specialist.
Propolis tincture
Here is another recipe that will improve the condition of a person if he has an abscess on the gum. Treatment at home, of course, does not always allow you to completely get rid of the problem. In most cases, the doctor must eliminate the cause of the inflammatory focus. However, you can alleviate the condition if you have tincture of propolis at hand. Only cook it in advance.
It is necessary to mix propolis with vodka diluted in half with distilled water. St. John's wort can be added to these ingredients. All must be thoroughly mixed. Within two days (minimum), the medicine should be infused in a dark place. Such a tool can be prepared and stored in the refrigerator. If any inflammatory process occurs in the oral cavity or soft tissue injury, tincture should be used to rinse. On a glass of warm boiled water, add 20 - 25 drops of the finished medicine. The procedure should be carried out three times a day daily.
Herbal harvest
It is no secret that many plants have healing properties. Therefore, there are many recipes for preparing decoctions. They will certainly help, or at least ease the situation, if a person has an abscess on the gum. Treatment with folk remedies sometimes gives a striking effect.
To prepare the broth, we need oak bark, sage and St. John's wort. These plants are famous for their anti-inflammatory properties. Oak bark is able to stop bleeding due to astringents. St. John's wort and sage have a pronounced regenerative effect.
First, we need to prepare a mixture of the above plants. To do this, combine them in equal proportions. To prepare the broth, we need only a tablespoon of the finished mixture. Pour it with two glasses of boiling water. After the broth has infused and cooled, it must be filtered. This medicine is enough for five rinses. Then you can cook a fresh broth.
Here is another tip to learn how to treat an abscess on the gum yourself. We do this with the help of herbal harvest. It will include angelica forest, peppermint, birch buds and periwinkle. Mix 6 tablespoons of each plant and pour a liter of vodka. In a day, the product will be ready for use. Rinse your mouth every few hours with tincture. Within a couple of days, the abscess should break through and the swelling should decrease.
Useful Tips
Here are some more ways to treat an abscess on the gum.
- Take two tablespoons of sage and regular green tea (only without additives). Brew the ingredients in a liter of boiling water. Two teaspoons of salt are introduced there. After the drug cools down, filter it and use it to rinse. Brew sage like tea and rinse your mouth with infusion as often as possible.
- At the pharmacy you can buy a ready-made disinfectant called “Chlorophyllipt”. To prepare the solution, you just need to dissolve a spoonful of the product in a glass of boiled water.
- When you urgently need to anesthetize the affected area, fresh onion juice will help us. Wet a small swab in it and apply it to a sore spot.
- Regular table salt will help pull the pus out. It is only necessary to dissolve a teaspoon of crystals in a glass of water. The solution must be typed in the mouth and kept on the side where the abscess occurred. After spit and repeat with a new portion of the product. Such manipulations well draw pus from the deep layers of soft tissues.
- After the inflammation has broken through, you can rinse your mouth with a solution of manganese (potassium permanganate).
Recommendations of specialists
Of course, dentists do not advise themselves to try to neutralize the abscess on the gum. Recommendations for treatment are that it is necessary to determine the cause of the abscess. If it appeared due to poor-quality sealing of the channels, then, accordingly, they will have to be opened. Sometimes the focus is removed through an incision in the gum. In cases where the cause of the neoplasm is periodontal disease, it is urgent to begin their treatment. Sometimes it is not possible to save the tooth and it has to be removed. In any case, modern technology allows for quality treatment. Going to the hospital will reduce the risk of complications.
Preventative measures
There are several rules by which you can reduce the risk of an abscess on the gum. Causes and treatment at home, we have already considered. We turn to preventive measures.
- It is necessary to monitor the quality and regularity of hygiene procedures.
- Visit your dentist regularly. This will prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases of the teeth and gum tissue.
- The diet should contain a sufficient amount of solid, tough foods. This will help to train the jaw apparatus. In addition, hard food perfectly cleans the surface of enamel from plaque and massages the gums.
It is necessary to monitor the health of the whole body and, accordingly, get rid of bad habits. All this will avoid many unpleasant moments in life.