Luke
Dear Luke,
I wish I had more information here. This is sort of a tough one to answer. What I can give you are some general guidelines.
Here are things to look for which mean that you have an active infection and do not need to put this off. In any of these cases, I would consider it a dental emergency in which you need to get the root canal treatment as soon as possible.
- It is hurting, even a little
- It recently stopped hurting
- If you have drainage in your mouth in the area
- If you have a pimple on your gums – this is called an abscess
On the other hand, if the tooth has not hurt in a long time, you may be okay to wait. This is called an arrested infection. It does still affect your general well being, but it is not something that has to be dealt with right away. There have been patients who had a latent infection and didn’t even realize it. However, after they had the tooth treated, they realized their body felt better than it had in a while.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by West Seneca Dentist Dr. Carl Embury.
