Had Abscess On My Lower Teeth. Have Periodontal Disease. How Long It Will Take To Cure?

Posted on Thu, 7 Mar 2013

Question: Hi, 10 days ago I had an abscess appear by one of my lower teeth. I have periodontal disease, have had a few gum surgeries and get XXXXXXX cleaning every 4 months. I also get frequent abscesses. I started on penicillin right away and saw my periodontist. He had me take the penicillin for 10 days. I took my last one today and I still have a hard painful lump under my skin on my chin. It's not red or warm but a little swollen (very little) He had checked it briefly and didn't seem concerned. His office is closed for the next 4 days and I am worried that this is still infection in my system.

Answered by Dr. Bibhu Dutt Nanda (59 minutes later)

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

I would like you to know that sometimes due to persistent infection, our tissue undergo a healing mechanism which causes fibrosis of the tissue. This causes the swelling to turn slightly hard or firm. I assume it is not painful now as the infection is resolving.

It will take 5-7 days for the swelling to disappear completely. Until then perform warm saline rinses(3-4 times/day). You can use an antibacterial mouth rinse(twice/day). If pain is still present, then you can take a painkiller(no aspirin) every 8 hours only. Do not worry, you will be fine.

But keep a check on the swelling for any change in its color, texture or size over time.
Kindly see your dentist once his office reopens after 4 days or so.

I hope this answer was useful. If you have any further queries feel free to write back. I wish you good health.

Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan

Follow up: Dr. Bibhu Dutt Nanda (1 hour later)

Thank you for your quick reply. The abscess has been resolved and that is not the problem. I have a very painful hard bump on my chin, not in my gum. The abscess was in my gum. The lump is about 1 inch in size and is not really swollen much, it's more under the skin. Just putting slight pressure on my chin causes pain. When I had the abscess it did cause pain down into my chin and my concern is that the infection moved down to under the skin and was not cleared up by the penicillin which is why it's still painful.

Answered by Dr. Bibhu Dutt Nanda (54 minutes later)

Thank you for providing me with all the details,
I agree with you when you say that slight infection is still present but its in the healing phase and there is no need of more antibiotics.
The abscess is nothing but pus which spreads to the surrounding tissue, and this is what has happened in your case as well.
Due to healing a firm lump results and is slightly painful when touched,
Kindly follow the instructions I mentioned earlier,
The lump will heal on its own , you do not need more antibiotics until your dentist prescribes.
But if the lump does not dissapear in a weeks time then it might need to be removed by your dentist.
I hope you received your answer.
I wish you good health,
Take care.

Note: Find out which dental treatment will work best for your teeth. Ask here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan