An infected tooth, sometimes called a tooth abscess, is not a pretty thing to read about. It is a pocket of pus caused by a bacterial infection, which can be caused by various things and can be located in various places near a tooth, depending on what caused it. Mostly, though, the exact location and reason behind your infected tooth is something for your dentist to be worried about. All you need to be worried about is figuring out if you have an infection at all.
An infected tooth, similar to a cavity, may manifest in the tooth in question being sensitive to hot and cold sensations, and hurting when you try to bite or chew food with the tooth. Where it differs from a cavity, though, is the severity and reach of the symptoms. An infected tooth will often be a constant, throbbing pain that reaches not only the affected tooth, but your whole jaw, and sometimes into your neck or ear. You may have bad breath, or an unpleasant taste in your mouth from the built-up bacteria. You may have swollen lymph nodes, have trouble swallowing or opening your mouth, or even begin running a fever.
If you are experiencing even a fraction of these symptoms, try to make an appointment with your dentist as soon as you can. Regardless of if the pain is due to an infection, a cavity, or something else, dental pain should not need to be endured just because it isn’t “bad enough.” While we can absolutely help you deal with a dental emergency, we are also here to help you fix problems with your teeth before they become an emergency.