Are you tempted to treat a tooth infection at home because it’s cheaper, more convenient, or helps you avoid the dentist? Published research on untreated tooth infections that led to fatalities can help you understand how going to a dentist for root canal treatment can be life-saving.

The Journal of Endodontics published results from a study that showed 66 people died from tooth infections from 2000-2008. Additionally, the Sacramento Bee and Fox News reported the case of Californian Vadim Kondratyuk Anatoliyevich, a 26-year-old husband and father of two girls. Vidim was a long-haul truck driver who developed a tooth infection. In January 2017, while driving to New York on a long-haul job, Vadim’s tooth infection worsened, so he stopped in Oklahoma to see a dentist who prescribed antibiotics. As Vadim continued his travel to New York, the toothache got better, then worse, and the side of his face began to swell.

Vadim made his delivery in New York but could not drive home due to the severity of his tooth infection. Vadim’s brother flew to New York to drive him back to California. However, Vadim had difficulty breathing and became pale, so his brother took him to a Utah hospital, where he was placed on oxygen and flown to a Salt Lake City facility.

The infection had spread to Vadim’s blood and lungs. Despite stronger antibiotics and dialysis, the doctors in Salt Lake City could not save him. Vadim’s wife was able to fly to the hospital in Utah to say goodbye before he died.

At-home care is not enough to treat a tooth infection. Antibiotics are insufficient because an infected tooth is dead and does not have blood circulation to transport medication. If you have a toothache, address it by seeing a dentist for root canal treatment—the only way to remove infection from a tooth. By seeing a dentist immediately for root canal treatment, you can avoid a tooth infection that spreads and becomes life-threatening.

 

Baton Rouge accredited cosmetic dentist Dr. Steven Brooksher sponsors this post.