An untreated tooth infection can spread to other tissues in your body within weeks or months and lead to potentially life-threatening complications. A tooth infection occurs when bacteria enter the inside of your tooth, which contains a soft tissue called pulp. As the infection progresses, a pocket of pus builds up around the affected tooth. This is known as a dental abscess. In London during the s, dental infections were listed as the fifth or sixth leading cause of death.
Even up until , dental infections still ended in death between 10 to 40 percent of the time. Due to advances in medicine and dental hygiene, death from a tooth infection is now extremely rare. When left untreated, a tooth infection can spread to other areas of the body , leading to serious, potentially life-threatening complications, including:.
The amount of time it takes for a tooth infection to cause death can vary. Abscesses due to tooth decay can take several months to develop. This is because the decay process can take a while to reach and damage the pulp at the center of a tooth. Meanwhile, injury or trauma to a tooth may allow bacteria to enter the tooth more quickly.
This can happen due to injuries like a cracked or chipped tooth. Once an abscess has formed, you typically begin to experience swelling and intermittent, throbbing pain around the affected tooth.
This is a warning sign that something is wrong. However, you will probably have dental pain in your tooth from the cavity before it progresses into an abscess. Case studies of serious illness or death from tooth infections often describe persistent toothaches that go on for weeks or months before seeking urgent or emergency care.
It happens when the bacteria reach the tooth pulp where the connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves are located. When patients disregard the symptoms mentioned above, the bacteria will reach the blood vessels and run through the bloodstream.
The infection will spread throughout the body and cause life-threatening risk factors, especially for patients with underlying conditions. Once the disease-causing bacteria from your infected tooth enters the bloodstream, various health conditions may arise.
While some healthy individuals may go unharmed with untreated tooth infections, other patients may suffer from the following health conditions:. The first target of bacteria close to your infected tooth is the bones surrounding it, including your jaw bone. Bone infection or osteomyelitis is the inflammation of your bone marrow or bone due to the bacterial infection that ran through your bloodstream. Severe cases of osteomyelitis are too painful and damage your bone structure.
The worst case is if the bacteria win over your body and becomes life-threatening. The treatment involves a series of antibiotics and antifungal medications that can last from 4 to 6 weeks. Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis is the infection of the blood vessels in the sinuses resulting in a blood clot at the base of the brain.
Antibiotics are a common treatment for tooth infections to kill dangerous bacteria and prevent your infection from spreading. Coconut oil has long been claimed to clean your teeth and improve dental health. This article explains why coconut oil is good for your teeth.
When left untreated, it can lead to dental complications. Find out the symptoms to watch for, and…. Here are our picks, tips for comfortable use, and how we went about choosing the best water flossers. Ready to narrow down your search? The sugars in soda can lead to cavities and poor dental health. Here's why it happens and how you can prevent it. Scientists are developing methods using stem cells that may allow humans to regrow teeth someday.
However, there is currently no way to regrow missing…. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references AskMayoExpert. Dental abscess. Rochester, Minn. Dental hygiene. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed Jan. Home oral care. American Dental Association. Toothache and infection. Merck Manual Professional Version. Abscessed teeth. American Association of Endodontists. Root canal treatment.
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