Tooth ache?

I seem to have woken up with the lower left part of my face aching. And it seems it has swollen slightly. One of my teeth hurts and the gums are bleeding around that tooth. Could this be an infection?

Tooth ache?
you know theres only one way to find out for sure dont you! Be brave and make an appointment...these things only get worse, not better!
Reply:yes or you have smacked yourself in the mouth make an emergency appointment at the dentist
Reply:It sounds like it could be an abscess and you need to go to the dentist to be given antibiotics to clear it up and get it checked out. I hope you are feeling better soon~
Reply:whatever did you have in your mouth last night
Reply:It could be or you might have just got a bit of food stuck between the tooth and gum. If it is right at the back could it be a wisdom tooth trying to come through? Try rinsing well with warm salt water to ease the gums and bleeding. Usually if it is the tooth causing the problem your gum wouldn't bleed. If you have gum disease you would expect to have bad breath with it too. Tap that tooth gently with the end of a spoon, if it feels the same as the others it's probably not the tooth. If it hurts or throbs go to the dentist.
Reply:Sounds like an abssess - get yourself off to the dentist`s.
Reply:it is most likely an abcess. if so, you have to take antibiotics for about 5 days before they can pull it, generally. so, go to the dentist.





EXTRACTIONS





Extractions have to be done well. Normally they pull a tooth out, stick a piece of gauze in there and say bite on it. After the tooth is removed, the socket has to be completely cleaned so that complete healing can occur. If tissue such as torn pieces of ligaments or periosteum is left in the socket and covers the bone, the bone will tend to heal over the top, leaving a hole in the bone, and new bone cannot form. This hole can persist for the rest of the patient's life. It is a chronic infection that is called an alveolar cavitational osteopathosis or cavitation. This means that there is an infected cavity in the bone. These bone infections are only now being seriously researched. If they are fairly easy to prevent by proper socket cleaning, why is this not being done? But many if not most dentists have never heard of cavitations.








CAVITATIONS





A cavitation is an unhealed hole in the jawbone caused by an extracted tooth [or a root canal or an injury to a tooth]. Since wisdom teeth are the most commonly extracted teeth, most cavitations are found in the wisdom tooth sites. Please see the graphic and photo below to get a glimpse of what may be in your mouth and the effects it is having. The photo and diagram demonstrate the destructive and pathologic consequence of a routine tooth extraction. Dentists are taught in dental school that once they pull a tooth, the patient's body heals the resulting hole in the jawbone. However, approximately 95% of all tooth extractions result in a pathologic defect called a cavitation. The tooth is attached to the jawbone by a periodontal ligament which is comprised of "jillions" of microscopic fibers. One end of each fiber is attached to the jawbone and the other end of the fiber is attached to the tooth root. When a tooth is extracted, the fibers break midway between the root and the bone. This leaves the socket (the area where the root was anchored in the bone) coated with periodontal ligament fibers.





There are specialized cells in the bone called osteoblasts. Osteoblasts make new bone. The word "osteoblast" means bone former. They are active during growth and maintenance. However, the periodontal ligament prevents the osteoblasts from filling in the tooth socket with bone since the periodontal ligament fibers lining the socket act as a barrier beyond which the osteoblasts cannot form bone. In other words, an osteoblast "sees" a tooth when it "sees" periodontal ligament fibers. Since there are billions of bacteria in the mouth, they easily get into the open tooth socket. Since the bone is unable to fill in the defect of the socket, the newly formed "cavitation" is now infected. Since there is no blood supply to the "cavitation" it is called "ischemic" or "avascular" (without a blood supply). This results in necrosis (tissue death). Hence we call a cavitation an unhealed, chronically infected, avascular, necrotic hole in the bone. The defect acts to an acupuncture meridian the same way a dead tooth (or root canal tooth) acts. It causes an interference field on the meridian which can impair the function and health of other tissues, organs and structures on the meridian. Significantly, the bacteria in the cavitation also produce the same deadly toxins that are produced by the bacteria in root canals (see Root Canals). These toxins are thio-ethers (most toxic organic substance known to man), thio-ethanols, and mercaptans. They have been found in the tumors in women with breast cancer.