Infected Tooth     Changing Your View Of Root Canals

Can an infected tooth be the cause of localized alopecia? Researchers at the University of Grenada believe it could. Alopecia areata can start with bald spots or patches on the scalp or other parts of the body.

Professors Jose Montoya and Antonio Soriano of the Stomatology Department advise patients who notice localized hair loss be checked for an infected tooth.

Further research will be required to verify the accuracy of their recommendation. But even if a tooth infection doesn’t cause baldness it can surely make you miserable.

A tooth infection can come on gradually or wake you up without prior warning in the middle of the night. Here are some fast facts you need to know about tooth infection:

Causes of an infected tooth:

• A deep cavity. Bacteria from deep tooth decay enter the dental pulp. This soft tissue is composed of nerve tissue and blood vessels. Eventually the bacteria cause the pulp to die. Then you have a tooth infection.

• A filling or crown on a tooth. If a tooth has a filling or crown it probably had a cavity at some time in the past. That means there is inflammation of the pulp. Sometimes this chronic inflammation reaches a point where the pulp finally dies and becomes infected.

• Trauma to a tooth. An infected tooth can develop years after you bump a tooth in an accident. Many times the tooth will discolor.

Symptoms of an infected tooth:

• None. That’s right; you can have a tooth infection and not even know it. Your dentist might find your abscessed tooth during a routine dental exam. Patients are sometimes confused to learn they need a root canal even though they never experienced a toothache.
• Pain on biting. This is very common among the infected tooth symptoms. The infection at the tip of the root causes the bone and ligament to become very sensitive to any pressure placed on the tooth during chewing. However, you also need to know that a small hairline crack in a tooth can also cause it to be sore to biting pressure.
  
• Swelling. You might have a small swelling in the gum adjacent to the tooth or a larger swelling of the jaw. It really is amazing how a small infected tooth can cause a very severe infection in the surrounding jaw.

• What about cold sensitivity? Technically this is not one of the infected tooth symptoms. Even though the treatment could be the same for both, cold sensitivity indicated inflammation of the dental pulp instead of infection.

Treatment of an infected tooth:

• Tooth removal. A tooth infection requires that the infected dental pulp be removed. Obviously extraction of the tooth would accomplish this goal.

•  Root canal treatment. This is the preferred treatment because you save your tooth.

Of course the words, “you need a root canal” are never welcomed words. There is much fear and anxiety associated with root canals. This is very unfortunate and leads some people to have their tooth removed.

I’ve written a book The Relaxed Root Canal to help you better understand the root canal procedure. I’ll also help you to relax get rid of  stress over this really simple dental procedure.

In Chapters 10 & 11 I’ll tell you the ONE THING YOU SHOULD NOT DO if you have an infected tooth. In my 20+ years as an endodontist (root canal specialist) I’ve seen many people who tried this home remedy. It will make your pain and swelling worse!

In  Chapter 5  I’ll also give you the one question you MUST ask your dentist BEFORE having your root canal. I’ll also give you my recommendation on what to do if you get the wrong answer to this question.

For more information on The Relaxed Root Canal please CLICK HERE.

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