Tooth Inflammation Treatment: How to Deal with Pulpitis

Pulpitis is a condition that concerns a person’s dental pulp tissue and visibly shows signs of inflammation in that area. The symptoms that indicate whether a person has pulpitis varies from person to person. The good thing is, this condition has available inflammation treatment but only if the patient is brought to the dentist right away. If the condition is prolonged, then that could lead to a more serious problem such as irreversible pulpitis. Is there an available tooth inflammation treatment for cases of pulpitis? 

What is the Cause of Pulpitis?

The cause of this condition comes from a variety of things such as physical, chemical, and bacterial reasons. Each of these will be further explained below:

The most common cause of pulpitis would be deep cavities as this exposes the pulp to the bacteria and its by-products, which has built up inside the mouth, and that, in turn, leads to pulp becoming inflamed. 

Physical Causes

There are three categories under physical causes and these include mechanical injury, thermal injury, and electrical injury. Tooth inflammation treatment will depend on the case. 

• Mechanical injury. Trauma, cracked tooth syndrome, barodontalgia, and pathologic wear are under this category.
• Thermal injury. This comes from the heat in cavity preparations. The heat from procedures like restoration and polishing is also under thermal injury. The eat that comes from the setting of cement on the teeth is another thermal injury. Lastly, when the teeth are exposed to direct heat and cold due to the lack of a protective base during deep filling procedures, this will result in thermal injury.
• Electrical injury. This is caused by a sudden surge of electrical current to the oral cavity. This is most common in children and infants since they have the tendency to nibble on the cords of electrical appliances. 

Symptoms of Pulpitis 

The following are key signs and symptoms.

• General pain is present in reversible pulpitis, irreversible pulpitis, chronic pulpitis, and acute pulpitis
• Teeth sensitivity is short and sharp for reversible pulpitis and chronic pulpitis. The pain lasts 30 seconds when it comes to irreversible pulpitis, and the pain is excruciating for acute pulpitis. 
• The area around the teeth is swelling for patients with irreversible pulpitis and acute pulpitis. As for reversible pulpitis and chronic pulpitis, it rarely occurs. 
• There will be an increase in pain felt by a person with irreversible pulpitis and acute pulpitis. For those with reversible pulpitis and chronic pulpitis, they will not feel this.

If you have reversible pulpitis, there is pain upon the presence of trigger (usually during eating hot/cold/sweet food). There is no pain if the trigger is gone and/ or the cavity is covered. On the other hand, with irreversible pulpitis, there is acute, spontaneous pain even without a trigger. For example, even when sleeping, watching tv, or doing nothing.

Knowing the causes and sharing the severity of symptoms with your dentist will help them provide the best and most appropriate tooth inflammation treatment.

Diagnosis of Pulpitis

Dentists will perform a series of tests in order to determine the diagnosis of the patient. Through these tests, dentists will be able to identify what type of pulpitis a patient has. 

• X-ray
• Tooth tap test (percussion and palpation tests)
• Electric testing
• Exposure to sweets, cold, and heat 

Tooth Inflammation Treatment for Pulpitis

There are several tooth inflammation treatments for this condition which are shown below:

• Reversible pulpitis can still be treated if the patient diagnosed with this condition is brought to the dentist right away. The dentist will clean the teeth to remove cavities and then perform a filling procedure to fill in the crack on the tooth/teeth so that the exposed pulp is protected. 
• Irreversible pulpitis cannot be treated anymore, in a way that the teeth cannot be saved. However, in some cases, the tooth can still be saved if a root canal is performed followed by a filling procedure.
• If the condition is too severe, then extraction is the only option left. After extraction, the tooth can be replaced with dentures or implants. 

Prevention is Better than Cure 

In order to prevent this condition from happening, people must always observe proper oral hygiene. Since pulpitis is mainly caused by cavities, then frequently brushing and flossing would do the trick. For more serious cases, seek medical help for tooth inflammation treatment.

Key Takeaways

Like most diseases, pulpitis is a condition that can be treated in its early stages with the use of several types of tooth inflammation treatment. If people want to avoid feeling the painful symptoms of this disease, then they must observe proper oral hygiene.

Learn more about Dental Conditions here. 

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