oral infection

Facial Swelling and Dental Emergencies

facial swelling from a dental abscess gum infectionThere are several things which can constitute a medical emergency, including pain, oozing sores and swelling. In some instances, all of these may occur; in others only one of these symptoms may be present. If a tooth or the gum around it is not in significant pain, some of our patients make the mistake of thinking that it is fine. However, if the area is swollen, you need to contact our office immediately.

Swelling is a sign of something being seriously wrong. Our patients need and deserve to have a correct diagnosis as soon as possible. In some instances, it may even save the life of a person. This is because swelling often accompanies some form of infection.

While infections anywhere in the body are serious and need to be addressed by a medical professional quickly, when it occurs in the head, the situation becomes more critical. This is because if the infection gets into the blood it can rapidly reach the brain. Patients can suffer a great deal of harm to this vital organ if this occurs, including but not limited to an unexpected and rapid decline leading to loss of life.

Besides a serious infection that can spread quickly, there are other types of infection and irritation that can cause swelling of the face. Viral infections like herpes usually have accompanying pain but not always. The transmittable disease syphilis can cause red swelling that is not painful. Likewise, patients may have some other form of infection, including those caused by fungi and bacteria.

At times, we see patients who have swelling after experiencing some type of injury. Whether it is related to sports or just a simple fall at home, this situation should be checked out by one of our staff. It is not uncommon for people to think the swelling and pain will subside when there is actually something more serious going on. For instance, there may be a chip of tooth embedded in the gum. When patients get to us quickly, we have more options to reduce the pain/swelling and possibly save a broken tooth.

These are just some of the types of emergencies that we treat when patients have facial swelling. Having a proper diagnosis as quickly as possible is imperative to successful treatment. If you are experiencing swelling, with or without pain, call our office today so we can help you.

3 Dental Emergencies We Can Help With Right Away

You need to make sure you work with us when you’re dealing with a dental emergency. Here are some of the more common ones that you’ll want to get help with.

1. Infection

If you have an abscess that is now infected you’re going to want to get this cared for as soon as possible. When infections first start up, they may just hurt or cause your breath to become bad, but if they aren’t cared for they can spread. Any kind of infection that spreads to your blood becomes deadly which is why we need to help you with this as soon as possible.

2. Broken Tooth

If you break a tooth for any reason then you need to get it taken care of before things get worse. Some of the time we can repair the tooth, other times there are other treatments we can work with you on. The longer you let a crack or a break go untreated, the more likely you are to lose the whole tooth. As soon as you have a problem with a broken tooth call us even if you don’t feel any pain so you don’t risk losing most of the tooth.

3. A growth of some kind that just starts forming on your gums can be a number of problems. If you haven’t harmed yourself by doing something like having a sharp piece of food go into your gums and they’re just swelling up, you need to get help right away. Sometimes you may have a problem with infections, allergic reactions, or something else that could be going on. Other times it may just be something simple that we can tell you about, but we’d rather you be safe than sorry when it comes to random swelling.

We can treat all dental emergencies in the Milwaukee area. If you have an urgent need to see a dentist, even if it’s late at night or on the weekend, please give us a call.