Abcess 5 years ago..

[traumaanxiety]

Hi all, I had quite a bad abcess 5 years ago in my front tooth. I had antibiotics and it settled. Since then, I've been terrified to go and get it sorted. I plucked up the courage in 2023 but the dentist decided to sort smaller problems first (fillings etc) before sorting the major infection i had. So, I went a few times for treatment then on the last time, my face was still numb after 24 hrs. It terrified me. It set me back 1000 steps and I haven't been back since. So, the chonic infection is still there. I have a bump on the front of my gum that now and again "leaks" and I now have a soft lump/swelling on the roof of my mouth. Stupidly I've googled and googled and read horror stories about people being left with holes in their skulls and people being at risk of dying when the teeth are removed because the infection is so bad.. Now i feel stuck. Trapped. I know this needs sorting but I just cannot pluck up the courage to go.
Am I going to be left with a gaping hole on the roof of my mouth where the pocket of infection is sitting? Am I going to die? Has anybody dealt with anything like this before?
Sorry for rambling im genuinely petrified and not sure how I can deal with this

 

[Gordon]

Am I going to be left with a gaping hole on the roof of my mouth where the pocket of infection is sitting?

No. Worst case is that there will be a little permanent fistula where the abscess is draining from. However, those are vanishingly rare and are easily repaired if they do occur.

Am I going to die? Has anybody dealt with anything like this before?

Not from this, no. Dental infections are easily contained by a working immune system. It's not ideal to leave this festering away, but it's not going to kill you. What is likely to happen is that it will blow up, causing you a fair amount of pain, at some unpredictable time in the future, probably at the most inconvenient time possible.

Your choice is to get it sorted on your own terms or wait until you're forced to get it done.

Post in the Support part of this forum for some help in getting this sorted out.

 

[traumaanxiety]

Thanks so much for your reply.
I have decided im going to get this done before I ever have to deal with another abcess. That's literally the worst pain I've ever felt!
I think I just needed reassurance that this isn't some crazy life or death situation and it is actually treatable fairly easily. My head was whirling thinking the dentist is going to be horrified by it all!
I will post on the support page. Thank you again for your time!