What Happens If a Tooth Infection Spreads to the Jaw?

Tooth infections generally start as a toothache. If you leave the sore and throbbing tooth untreated, it can attract infections. If you ignore the condition and do not get it treated, it can spread to other parts of your body, including your jaw.

Tooth Infection Symptoms

An infected tooth can exhibit many symptoms such as throbbing tooth pain, throbbing pain in the jaw, ear, or neck on the same side of the tooth pain, pain worsening after lying down, sensitivity to pressure in the mouth, temperature sensitivity to hot and cold foods and drinks, swelling in the cheeks, fever, bad breath, awful taste in the mouth, and tender and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

Signs of Tooth Infection Symptoms Spreading to the Body

Infections in an untreated tooth can spread in any part of your body to become life-threatening. Signs and symptoms of conditions in the tooth spreading include feeling unwell with dizziness and fatigue, running a fever with flushing skin, sweating, and chills, dehydration including a reduction in urination, confusion, and darker urine.

Besides the above, you may have swelling in the face making it difficult to open and close your mouth, swelling that impedes breathing and swallowing, rapid pulse rate, lightheadedness, diarrhea, vomiting, and an increase in the rate of breathing.

When to Seek Medical Attention?

You must seek medical attention if you have a high fever of 103° Fahrenheit or higher accompanied by chest pain, mental confusion, atypical light sensitivity, difficulty breathing, seizures or convulsions, unexpected skin rashes, persistent vomiting, and pain when urinating. In such situations, it is best to seek medical attention immediately to relieve the problem.

How Do Teeth Become Infected?

Your tooth becomes infected when bacteria penetrate the tooth from chips, cracks, or cavities. Your risk of tooth infections increases if you don’t maintain excellent dental hygiene by brushing your teeth twice daily and flossing at least once, having a high-sugar diet with carbonated drinks, or having a dry mouth resulting from aging or adverse side effects of medications.

When Is a Dental Visit Necessary?

Every toothache isn’t an emergency or causes severe health concerns. However, it is best to get treatment for a toothache before it worsens. You can call emergency dental Salt Lake City for a same-day appointment if your toothache persists for over 24 hours and is accompanied by other problems like fever, swelling, challenges breathing and swallowing, red gums, painful chewing or biting, et cetera.

If you have a broken or knocked tooth, you must call emergency dentistry in Salt Lake City, UT, for an emergency appointment to have the tooth reinserted into its socket.

While waiting to see your dentist, you can use OTC medications for pain relief and avoid hot or cold foods and drinks while refraining from chewing on the side of the face with a toothache and eating only soft and cool foods.

When you avoid treatment for a tooth infection, you allow it to spread to your jaw or other body parts. The bacteria from the infection spreads to your bloodstream, making you vulnerable to various medical problems unrelated to your tooth. It also makes you prone to receiving treatments from different medical professionals instead of dentists for conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. In addition, you may even have to get the tooth extracted and seek expensive replacements to cover the empty gap between your teeth to avoid the consequences of tooth loss.

If you remain adamant and do not get the infected tooth treated, you may have to deal with multiple issues with your body affecting your heart and risk a fatality in severe circumstances.

Preventing infections in your tooth is not challenging if you take appropriate care of your teeth by brushing them with fluoride toothpaste twice daily, flossing them at least once, avoiding tobacco products and reducing your intake of sugar, and seeking professional dental care every six months when the dentist examining your mouth can detect infections and offer treatments for them immediately.

When you leave a tooth infection untreated in your mouth, it eventually spreads to your jaw and beyond, creating complications that need more than mere fillings or root canals. You may confront a situation that you find challenging to manage because it might overwhelm you.

If you have an untreated infection in your tooth causing the problems described above, Warm Family Dentistry can help you identify and eradicate the disease before it is too late. Consult them today to avoid visits to different medical professionals, which becomes inevitable if the condition spreads to your jaw.