Home Remedy for an Abscessed Tooth

Video Transcript

"I've been asked many times what a home remedy is for treating an abscess. You can go in and pop the abscess to help drain some of the infection. The problem with that is it's not treating the source of the infection. The bubble that you see or the blister that you see is the secondary to the infection that you developed in the gums or the tooth. So it's very important even after you have drained it and you're successful at that, you still might need to make sure that you're eliminating the source of the problem. For example, if you have a tooth that has a very large cavity, and it gets into the nerve and causes infection, and then further abscesses, you will develop a blister or a bubble typically at the end of the tooth that will cause the discomfort that you often see. You can go in there and pop the collection of infection that sits in that bubble, however, you still have a cavity on the tooth, and the tooth is still infected. It is for that reason that you will still require some sort of additional treatment, whether it be a root canal, therapy treatment, or an extraction. Either one of those will eliminate the source of the infection. But also prevent the further onset of another abscess. In terms of home remedies, things that you can do, again, you can basically pop the abscess with something sharp and sterile and disinfect it. That will kind of ensure that you won't have that bubble there. Again, it will not eliminate the problem but it will get a little more comfortable for you. You could also use warm salt water rinses or rinses with peroxide, or listerine, that will kind of help disinfect the area around the infection. But again, it will not treat the source of it. More or less treat some of the symptoms, and some of that bubble infection that you see."