Abscessed Tooth: Symptoms

Content provided by Healthwise

Symptoms

Symptoms of an abscessed tooth include:

• Throbbing pain, especially when you chew or you touch your tooth.
• Red, swollen gums .
• A bad, salty taste in your mouth.
• Fever.
• Swelling in any area of the mouth, face, upper or lower jaw, or neck.
• Creamy or yellow pus or blood oozing from a red, swollen, pimplelike area in your mouth.
• Your tooth turning pink or gray.
• A feeling that the tooth is being raised out of its socket, and you cannot close your teeth together properly.

As the infection spreads, you may feel less pain. This is because the bone in your jaw has begun to dissolve and the nerve to the tooth may be dying. If too much bone dissolves, your tooth will become loose and may have to be removed.

Call your dentist immediately if you have a severe toothache that has not improved after an hour or two of home treatment. You may have an abscessed tooth, and the infection may be spreading.

Call your dentist to make an appointment as soon as possible if you have:

• A mild to moderate toothache.
• A toothache with a fever of or higher.
• Swelling in the mouth, jaw, or face that is new or getting bigger.
• A tooth that is very sensitive or painful when pressure is applied to it (such as when you chew).

Last updated:	March 23, 2007
Author:	Ralph Poore
Reviewed By:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine, Steven K. Patterson, BSc, DDS, MPH - Dentist
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC