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Can You Treat Gum Disease With Antibiotics

Tooth Infection Treatment: Whatre Your Options

Arestin, antibiotic for gum disease

To treat a tooth abscess, your dentist will perform an exam and often take an x-ray to locate your infection and determine its severity and whether it has spread. Based on these findings, treatment options may include:

  • Draining the abscess:Your dentist or healthcare provider will administer a local anesthetic and then create an incision in the abscess to drain the pus.
  • Performing a root canal treatment:Your dentist will administer an anesthetic and then drill into your infected tooth to remove the pus collected in its interior. After they clean the area, they will fill, seal, and cap the tooth to complete the root canal procedure and ensure that no more bacteria can enter.
  • Extracting the tooth:Your dentist may recommend extracting a tooth if it is too damaged to save. Once they pull your tooth, they will drain the area of any remaining pus to treat the abscess and relieve your pain.

In most cases, the American Dental Association recommends that dentists treat abscesses and other causes of dental pain with appropriate dental procedures and pain relievers, not antibiotics.

To manage your pain, your dentist may suggest taking over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen , acetaminophen , or naproxen before or after your dental procedure.

How Long Does It Take For Amoxicillin To Work For A Tooth Infection

If you take the amoxicillin antibiotic for tooth infection, you may begin to feel better in just one to two days. However, that doesn’t mean that your infection is cured.

You must make sure to take your antibiotics for as many days as specified in your prescription, and even though you may feel better in a couple of days, your infection probably won’t be gone until a week to 10 days have passed.

How To Treat Gingivitis

The good news is that gingivitis can be reversed. Professional treatment is your first defence and is targeted to stop the development of the infection. Your dentist will perform an initial investigation to see how far your gingivitis has progressed before recommending a course of treatment.

Treating gum disease needs deep cleaning that goes below the gum line. Your dentist will need to use special tools to get below the gum.

Tooth scaling

Your dentist might scale your gums to get rid of the tartar and plaque build up.

Root planing

Sometimes root planing is required. This is when surface of the roots are smoothed out and the bacteria removed, so that your gums can reattach to your teeth. Planing is usually recommended when you have bone loss and your dentist needs to do a thorough and deep clean. Scaling and planing can both be uncomfortable when your gums are sensitive so chat to your dentist if this is a concern. Depending on the extent of your gum infection it might be necessary for you to return for a few treatments. Scaling and planning prevent gum disease from progressing and ultimately prevent tooth loss.

Oral medicine and antibiotics for gum disease

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Topical Gels And Strips

The biggest advantage of the direct delivery of antibiotics to the surfaces of the gums is that the whole body is not affected. Topical gels and direct delivery methods tend to be preferred over their oral counterparts and are extremely effective when used after scaling and root planing procedures. Here are some of the most commonly used direct delivery antibiotics:

  • PerioChip® This chip is placed into the actual gum pocket after root planing procedure. PerioChip® slowly releases Chlorhexidine, a powerful antibacterial antiseptic. PerioChip® reduces pocket depth in most cases in periodontitis sufferers.
  • Actisite® This thin strip is similar to dental floss and contains tetracycline hydrochloride. The thread is place temporarily directly between the tooth and gum to kill bacteria and reduce the depth of gum pockets. Several threads are sometimes placed for around 10 days to enhance the antibiotic effect.
  • Elyzol® This metronidazole antibiotic comes in gel and strip form. It is unique because it is able to destroy parasites as well as oral bacteria.
  • Arestin® This Minocycline antibiotic comes in mini capsules which are delivered into the gums after scaling and root planning.

Noticeable periodontal improvements are usually seen after systemic or oral antibiotic treatment. Your Periodontist or dentist will incorporate and recommend the necessary antibiotic treatments as necessary for the healing of your periodontal condition.

What Are The Risks And Causes Of Periodontal Disease

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There are many factors that can put someone at risk for gum disease. An important one is poor oral hygiene, which may allow bacterial plaque to build up. Other risk factors include family history, diabetes, smoking, certain prescription medicines, stress, pregnancy, diseases affecting the immune system, and tooth alignment irregularities that may lead to food impaction.

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Dental Trauma And Infection

If your older child’s teeth become dislodged due to trauma, the dentist may prescribe tetracycline.

However, tetracycline can cause permanent tooth discoloring when a child’s dentin is still being formed, also called tetracycline teeth, so children under 12 will be prescribed something else in most cases, like penicillin V or amoxicillin. Topical antibiotics may also be used to help with gum healing.

What Are The Benefits And Risks Of Using Antibiotics As Well As Cleaning By A Dental Care Professional To Treat Gum Disease

Why is this question important?

Gum disease is a common condition in which the gums become swollen, sore or infected. It is caused by bacteria that accumulate on gums and teeth. Diseased gums may bleed when people brush their teeth, and may cause bad breath. If gum disease is not treated, teeth can become loose and eventually fall out. This can affect a persons ability to chew and speak. It can also make people feel self-conscious about their appearance.

Dental-care professionals can clean teeth and gums to remove excess bacteria from the mouth. They use special instruments typically, an ultrasound scraper followed by specialised hand-held instruments to scrape bacteria from the teeth, and stop these from affecting the gums.

Antibiotics taken by mouth can be used alongside professional cleaning, to remove bacteria from the area between the teeth and gums. However, there are potential risks associated with antibiotics, such as allergic reactions and antibiotic resistance .

We conducted a review of the evidence from research studies to find out about the benefits and risks of using antibiotics alongside professional dental cleaning to treat gum disease. We also wanted to know if some antibiotics work better than others in this situation.

How did we identify and evaluate the evidence?

What did we find?

No studies reported on antimicrobial resistance or changes in peoples quality of life.

What does this mean?

We do not know whether:

How-up-to date is this review?

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Systemic Administration Of Antibiotics

An ideal antibiotic for use in prevention and treatment of periodontal disease should be specific for periodontal pathogens, allogenic and nontoxic, substantive, not in general use for treatment of other diseases, and inexpensive. Currently, an ideal such antibiotic does not exist. Although oral bacteria are susceptible to many antibiotics, no single antibiotic at concentrations achieved in body fluids inhibits all putative periodontal pathogens. Indeed, it is suggested that a combination of drugs may be necessary to eliminate all putative pathogens from some periodontal pockets.

Surgical Gum Disease Treatment Options

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If the gum disease is determined as severe or has developed into periodontitis or other complications, surgical treatments might be applied, such as:

  • Bone Graft

This procedure is performed when gum infections have destroyed a significant portion of the jawbone, and so bone reconstruction is necessary.

Bone grafts involve using fragments of a healthy bone to replace the damaged bone and promoting healthy regeneration of the jawbone. The graft can used a portion of your healthy bone, donated bone, and even manufactured, artificial/synthetic bone.

The bone graft mainly serves as a new foundation or platform to regrow the bone, mainly to maintain stability for the teeth and promote reattachment. Also, newer tissue engineering technologies can encourage bone and tissue regeneration at a much faster rate than ever before.

  • Tissue Graft

This procedure involves grafting thin tissue, that is stitched in place, in areas where gums have receded due to infections. The grafted tissue is usually taken from the roof of the mouth.

  • Guided Tissue Regeneration

A fairly new procedure involving new medical technology, applied when the jawbone supporting the tooths root has been completely destroyed by bacterial infections.

  • Pocket Reduction Surgery
  • Bone Surgery

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Empirical Therapy Versus Microbial Testing

The choice of antibiotics can either be empiric or guided by information about the nature of the involved pathogenic microorganism and/or their antibiotic susceptibility profile. Currently, there exists no direct evidence that microbiologic diagnosis and targeted selection of antibiotic regimen provides an additional benefit compared to empiric use. In practice, antibiotics are often used empirically without microbial testing. Studies conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of microbial testing concluded that the usefulness of microbial testing may be limited and that empirical use of antibiotics, such as a combination of amoxicillin and metronidazole, may be more clinically sound and cost effective than bacterial identification and antibiotic-sensitivity testing. The use of such measures can still be considered whenever a case of aggressive periodontitis is not responding or if the destruction continues despite good therapeutic efforts.

How To Get Rid Of A Gum Infection Without Using Antibiotics

When you have gum disease the first thing you probably think of is what home remedies you can try before seeing your dentist. Home remedies are a cheap and very effective way to treat gum disease, and catching it at the early stages can help. Practicing good oral hygiene habits is the first step towards treating a gum infection. Anytime you are experiencing extreme pain, sensitivity, bleeding, or have a fever you should always seek medical advice, and be seen in our office.

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Can I Be Treated With Arestin If I Am Pregnant Or Nursing A Baby

No. ARESTIN contains minocycline, an antibiotic in the tetracycline class. Tetracyclines should not be used by pregnant or nursing women or by children. The use of tetracyclines during development may result in permanent discoloration of the teeth. Talk to your healthcare professional if you have questions about ARESTIN and pregnancy.

Rationale For Antibiotic Therapy

Antibiotics used in peridontal diseases(1)

The rationale for pharmacological agents in management of aggressive forms of periodontal disease is eliminating the initiating factors and diseased tissues by conventional therapy and augmenting it with systemic pharmacological agents to eliminate the pathogens left in the tissues. It is to be emphasized, in such cases, that use of antibiotics is as important as the conventional therapy. Mechanical treatment may not predictably eliminate putative pathogens such as A. actinomycetemcomitans from sub-gingival area due to them being inaccessible to mechanical intervention, especially in areas such as root concavities, furcation, and their ability to invade periodontal tissues and dentinal tubules. Persistence in non-dental areas such as dorsum of tongue or tonsils is again an important area of concern.

While the use of antibiotics in periodontal treatment will probably always be controversial, reports from both the American Academy of Periodontology and the European Federation of Periodontology contain valuable guidance for their use. Both these reports, following exhaustive literature searches, determined that patients with aggressive periodontitis appear to benefit from the adjunctive use of systemic antibiotics during treatment.

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Other Steps To Treat Gum Infection

Oral therapyIt is exceptionally essential that you take ideal care of your teeth and gums. Brush a minimum of two times a day. Brush for a minimum of two minutes each time. Floss at least once a day.

Take your medication precisely as directed. Take it for the full amount of time recommended. This reduces the risk that surviving bacteria will end up being resistant to the medicine. Preventing resistance will help to make sure that the medication works.

Local antibiotic therapyAfter antibiotics are placed, you might feel something under your gums, but it shouldnt be uneasy. Avoid flossing the treated teeth so you do not dislodge the medicine. Sometimes the dental professional will place a covering called a periodontal pack around the gums. If you get a periodontal pack, do not disturb it.

Your dental expert will examine you again in 7 to 10 days. She or he will remove the periodontal pack and any remaining antibiotic. After this, you can resume your basic brushing and flossing routine.

All types of antimicrobial therapyYour dentist will inspect you again after two or three months to see if the treatment helped. If not, the next step will depend upon a number of factors, consisting of the intensity of your disease. Your dentist may have to prescribe a various antibiotic. Or you may need gum surgery.

It is necessary to help keep your periodontal disease under control. You will need to make regular sees to your dental expert or periodontist. These sees can include:

Drugs Used To Treat Gum Disease: Antibiotics And Chlorhexidine

Dental diseases are pretty different from those that occur in different parts of the body. There is no vaccine to prevent tooth decay or gum disease. There is also no medicine that can cure the infection on its own when dental infections have set in. If you are seeking bleeding gums treatment, then you have to go a dentist a get a procedure done. There is no other way. Recently, however, advances in research of treatment of gum disease has identified certain drugs which can be used as an adjunct to treatment or maybe even help in the prevention of the condition altogether.

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Antibiotics To Treat Gum Disease Is Not Recommended Routinely Unless Absolutely Necessary They Are Used Mostly With Scaling And Surgery

Written by Admin | Updated : January 14, 2014 4:13 PM IST

Plaque contains bacteria which produce acids and toxins that irritate your gums and cause gum diseases. And antibiotics kill bacteria. Hence they are used to treat gum disease, mostly with other treatments like scaling and surgery.

Topical or Systemic? Antibiotics to treat gum disease may be prescribed in different forms topical or systemic .

Topical antibiotics are usually the treatment of choice because they are directed to their specific target areas. Their other advantages are reduced dosage, increased concentration and reduced side effects. Various antibiotics embedded in different delivery systems may be directly placed into the periodontal pocket. They are released over time and are applied to the gums after scaling and planing. Antibiotics taken orally get secreted in the saliva and/or the gingival fluid and act against the offending bacteria. You may also be recommended toothpastes containing triclosan, an antibiotic known to reduce plaque and gum disease.

What Is The Best Antibiotic For Tooth Infection Treatment

Should I take antibiotics for my gum disease

In many cases, antibiotics from the penicillin class, including penicillin and amoxicillin, are the best antibiotics for tooth infection. But that doesn’t mean these are the right choices for everyone! In fact, antibiotics may not be what you need even If you have a tooth infection.

You should never take an antibiotic without a prescription from your dentist or doctor. Many people take antibiotics without a prescription, and this is leading to antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

That means that some bacterial infections can no longer be treated with antibiotics which is a scary thought!

Instead of antibiotics, your dentist may decide that the best course of action is to drain your abscess, perform a root canal, or possibly remove the infected tooth.

That being said, you are more likely to receive antibiotics for a tooth infection when your infection is severe and spreading or if you are an individual with a weakened immune system.

The best antibiotic for a tooth infection will depend on the type of bacteria that is causing your infection and the location of your infection. That’s because different classes of antibiotics work in different ways to fight bacteria.

This is one of the reasons why it’s essential to take the antibiotic exactly as prescribed by your dentist until you’ve finished your prescribed course of treatment. Your dentist or doctor will know which is the best drug to take for your infection based on your medical history and the type of infection.

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When To See A Dentist

If you experience persistent gum soreness or bleeding, or if you have an abscess, you should see your dentist as soon as possible.

The earlier gum disease is identified and treated, the easier treatment will be.

Diagnosis

To diagnose gum disease, your dentist will take X-rays to check your bone levels and examine your gums. Theyll measure the pockets around the gums to check if they are healthy or not.

Theyll also ask about your medical history, since you may have risk factors associated with gum disease, such as diabetes or a tobacco habit. If your dentist notices you have advanced gum disease, or periodontitis, you might be referred to a gum specialist known as a periodontist.

Professional Treatments

There are many treatments that general dentists, hygienists, and periodontitis available for gum disease. The kind of treatment will depend on your specific condition. Some treatment options include:

  • Regular teeth cleaning
  • Incision and drainage in the case of some abscesses
  • Tooth removal

Any professional treatment will be most effective in combination with good oral hygiene. Failure to adequately brush or floss even after extensive professional treatment will lead to plaque and bacteria building up again.

Complications

Diseased gums, if left untreated, can lead to loss of teeth and bone tissue. Bacteria affecting your gums could also enter the bloodstream and affect other parts of your body.

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