Lots of people believe that a really bad tooth infection will at least hurt a lot, but the truth is that some dental abscesses can develop with hardly any discomfort at all. This leaves the infection undetected for months. Even years. This can be a major problem because patients may delay seeking treatment until too late. In fact, this is a major concern in Australia where oral disease still poses a big public health risk. It’s getting worse. National data suggest that almost one in three Australian adults is walking around with at least one untreated decayed tooth. A ticking time bomb that can eventually lead to infection and all sorts of other problems.
Understanding How Silent Abscesses Happen
A dental abscess happens when the bad guys, in this case, bacteria, sneak into the inner workings of a tooth and start working their way down to the roots or surrounding tissues. The classic signs of an abscess are throbbing pain, facial swelling and sensitivity, but sometimes that’s not what happens. It turns out that in some cases the infection will slowly drain through a little hole in the gum. Which sort of reduces the pressure and makes the pain go away. This just means the infection is still quietly causing trouble inside. It presents a problem when making diagnoses in both patients and healthcare providers. Routine check-ups can reveal problems that would otherwise go undetected. That’s why dentists practising dentistry on Baulkham Hills and elsewhere in Australia still stress the importance of routine X-rays in addition to symptom-based diagnosis.
The Hidden Extent of Untreated Dental Disease
You’d be surprised how often silent abscesses develop alongside other problems such as untreated tooth decay, failed fillings, cracked teeth or gum disease. In Australia, some interesting data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that almost 32% of adults have at least one untreated decayed tooth. And if you only go to the dentist when you’re in pain, that goes up to nearly 44%. But if you go in for regular check-ups? Only 24%.
It gets worse though. The data also shows that the average Aussie adult has an average of 11.2 decayed, missing or filled teeth throughout their lifetime. Which is a real surprise. Only 11% of adults have never had a cavity in a permanent tooth. That’s it’s a pretty big problem.
Why Pain Sometimes Disappears Even Though the Infection is Still There?
So why is it that sometimes the pain in a dental infection just goes away, even though the infection is still going on underneath the surface? Well, it’s because pain is usually caused by pressure and inflammation. If the infection manages to find a way out through a sinus tract in the gum then the pressure is released and the pain goes away. Even if the infection is still doing its thing below. This can be really misleading because the patient might think everything is fine. When in reality the infection is still spreading.
Don’t be fooled. Australian guidelines are clear on this point. Dental abscesses don’t just magically fix themselves. They need proper professional treatment. Even if the symptoms have gone away, the bacteria can still be causing all sorts of problems below the surface.
Health Risks Associated with Silent Abscesses
Loads of people who’ve got asymptomatic infections are quite lucky in that their bodies manage to keep them localised, but if you don’t get treated there’s a pretty good chance that things can escalate into full-blown emergencies. The health authorities in Australia are warning that infections that start in your teeth can spread into your facial tissues, the jaw and just get into all the wrong spaces. In some really bad cases, you can get complications like an airway blocked, sepsis, loss of vision or any number of other life-threatening conditions.
Finding Silent Infections Before Things Get Out of Hand
Because painless abscesses are notoriously good at keeping under the radar, you need imaging to spot them before they get any worse. A dental X-ray can often show you where the trouble is, like bone destruction around the roots of your teeth or hidden decay that’s just waiting to develop. Even the doc can sometimes pick up on the early signs, like gum fistulas, swelling or discolouration on a tooth.
