robweigner: How to Control and Prevent Tooth Infection

Sunday, January 26, 2014

How to Control and Prevent Tooth Infection

This tooth decay occurs when disease causing bacteria produce an acid which removes the top most layer of the tooth surface, the enamel. This infection can go deeper in to the pulp chamber and results in tooth loss or it may even cause infections to wisdom tooth.

Tooth infection can be easily prevented by brushing the teeth properly and flossing regularly, and by consulting a dentist or dental professional, also by avoiding taking foods that are very high in sugar

Tooth infection can cause the bacteria in the mouth to enter the blood circulation, into the bloodstream to infect the heart valve, causing bacterial endocarditic, and it mostly occurs in people who had rheumatic heart disease, when they were young.

This condition affects and weakens the heart valves, making them susceptible to infection. And those who have artificial heart valves or pacemakers are even more prone to infection originating from tooth decay or infection in the mouth.

Causes of Tooth Infection

A tooth infection usually starts from a normal tooth decay or cavity, and as the cavity deepens the bacteria enters the pulp tissue causing infection within the tooth. These bacteria that have entered the pulp chamber cause destruction of blood vessels and nerve tissue within the pulp; it causes liquefaction of the dead tissue.

This mixture of living bacteria and rotten tissue, leaks out of the end of the tooth. The dead tissue irritates the surrounding alveolar bone and the supporting structures, making the tooth mobile. Fortunately, with a healthy immune system, the body fights back. However, if the infection is long term or chronic then the symptoms gradually appear.

Tooth decay is caused by bacteria, when it comes in contact with food particles on the tooth surface. Plaque, a transparent layer formed on the tooth few hours after brushing, contains disease causing bacteria which feeds on the food you eat with high sugar content which in turn creates acid that destroy the teeth.

Few minutes after eating this acid will start attacking the teeth and over a period of time acid will completely destroy the tooth enamel, resulting in tooth decay. Any dental infection can cause serious problems and should be addressed as soon as possible.

Types of Tooth Infections

A tooth infection can be very painful. And there are several types of dental infections depending upon the area of invasion.

The first type is an infection inside your tooth, in the living pulp tissue. This comes from tooth decay or severe irritation resulting from chronic infection. Inside your tooth, the natural defense mechanism breaks down because the blood vessel which transports antibodies and white blood cells gets destroyed.

Therefore, when your tooth becomes infected, it will not recover, and the pulp tissue will die. The treatment for this condition is a root canal treatment. With a root canal treatment, the soft tissue inside your tooth is removed and replaced with a sealant material that keeps infection from seeping back into the tooth.

There is a second type of tooth infection which occurs in the bone surrounding the tooth. A tooth abscess may or may not be painful; it is formed near the root of the tooth. When bacteria are in the bone, your body can fight them with antibodies and white blood cells.

The problem is that there is a constant supply of new bacteria to the region from the dead tissue inside your tooth. Your body may or may not be successful in walling off the infected area, so an abscess can go on for years without hurting. But the risk of damage is great. The abscess can grow and spread to surrounding roots of other teeth, and it can even cause the root of your tooth to be gradually dissolved. Treatment, again, would be a root canal procedure, followed by deep gingival curettage or abscess drainage.

A subdivision of this type would be a wisdom tooth infection, which occurs in the surrounding gum and is treated with a tooth extraction.