^

Health

A
A
A

Flux on the gum

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
 
Fact-checked
х

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.

We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.

If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.

A gumboil is a serious dental disease that is fraught with many complications. Let's look at the causes of gumboil, the symptoms of the disease, diagnostic methods, as well as treatment and prevention methods.

A gumboil or periostitis is a dangerous disease that, without timely treatment, can cause blood poisoning. A gumboil occurs due to neglected or untimely treatment of caries and infectious lesions. Maintaining oral hygiene and regular preventive examinations at the dentist is the key to preventing gumboil. Periostitis can occur at any age and always has painful consequences. Without proper treatment, a gumboil develops into a chronic and acute form, each of which is accompanied by pronounced painful symptoms.

trusted-source[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ]

Causes of gumboil

The causes of gumboil are varied, but, as a rule, these are infectious lesions. Infection can occur due to advanced dental diseases, caries, periodontitis and pulpitis.

  • Flux develops during inflammatory processes in the gingival pocket, as a result of a previous sore throat or furunculosis.
  • Traumatic lesions, damage to the jaw and mucous membrane are another cause of gumboil.
  • A filling that is not removed in time, which causes the destruction of the pulp, also contributes to the appearance of gumboil on the gum.
  • Periostitis also appears due to medical intervention, for example, infection with microbes through an injection.

In any case, the occurrence of gumboil is caused by an infection. At the first symptoms of periostitis, it is necessary to seek medical help. Bacteria and harmful microorganisms corrode the dental pulp and affect the periosteum. Sometimes gumboil can also occur due to incomplete treatment. So, if a patient has a temporary filling with arsenic that is not removed in time, the filling destroys the dental pulp and contributes to the development of periostitis.

If gumboil occurs due to caries, the infection penetrates the tooth pulp through the carious cavity and causes inflammation. Pulpitis is very painful, but as soon as the pulp dies, the pain subsides. But it is this stage that is especially dangerous. Since after the pulp dies, the inflammatory process takes a latent form and is difficult to diagnose and cure. The infection affects the root of the tooth, where purulent masses begin to accumulate. The danger of such a latent form of periostitis is that sooner or later the bacterial focus is activated, causing inflammation of the jaw bone. In especially severe cases, purulent formations of gumboil begin to come out and accumulate under the periosteum.

Symptoms of gumboil

The symptoms of gumboil are unmistakable. A lump appears on the gum near the affected tooth, which begins to hurt from a light touch and rapidly increases. The swelling spreads to the soft tissues of the face and increases. Many patients with gumboil experience swelling of the cheek, lower eyelids, lips and nose. Let's look at the main symptoms of gumboil, which will help to recognize the disease and seek medical help in time.

  • Flux provokes an increase in body temperature, and in especially advanced cases – blood poisoning.
  • Flux causes acute toothache, which intensifies during eating, brushing teeth, or when pressing on the tooth.
  • A purulent lump appears on the gum under the affected tooth, which constantly increases and grows.
  • Painful sensations can radiate to the eyes, head and ear, depending on the location of the gumboil.

In chronic cases, inflammation develops slowly, causing thickening of the jawbone and gums under the affected tooth. In acute periostitis, swelling appears, which spreads to the nasolabial fold, lips, neck and facial muscles. Lack of treatment for gumboil can cause blood poisoning and even death.

What does gum abscess look like?

What does gumboil look like and can it be recognized before painful symptoms appear? Gumboil or odontogenic periostitis is a dental abscess, i.e. a neoplasm filled with an infected substance or pus. Gumboil affects the base of the tooth and the gum. Gumboil appears only due to infection or as a complication of previous dental or infectious and inflammatory diseases.

So, gumboil is a dental abscess that causes swelling of the soft tissues of the face and edema. The gumboil resembles a lump from bright red to purulent-white. At the first stages of the disease, periostitis can be felt with the tongue. A small seal near the gum hurts when pressed, causing sharp pains that radiate to the eyes, head and ear. Periostitis must be treated, since the development of the disease can cause death.

Flux on the gums in children

Flux on the gums of children is quite common. Most often, periostitis occurs when baby teeth change and due to infection. The danger of flux in children is that parents are in no hurry to take their child to the dentist when they find a painful lump on the gum, hoping that rinsing will help cure periostitis. But this is far from true, since flux signals an advanced state of the teeth and non-compliance with oral hygiene rules. In most cases, treating flux in children involves removing the tooth and treating the affected gum and jaw bones.

  • An infection can occur when baby teeth are replaced by permanent teeth. An inflamed socket forms in the place of the lost tooth, from which the tooth grows. In this case, the lack of dental care is the cause of damage and the future loss of the unformed permanent tooth. The task of parents is to teach the child the basic rules of oral hygiene and regularly undergo preventive examinations at the dentist.
  • Flux on the gums in children can develop due to caries. Carious bacteria undermine tooth enamel and open access to the tooth pulp, this causes severe pain that can radiate to the ear, eyes and head. If parents ignore the painful symptoms in the child, then over time the discomfort goes away, as the pulp dies. However, the disease does not stop there, periostitis takes a chronic form, the treatment of which is more complex and lengthy.
  • Pathogenic bacteria that cause gumboil affect the roots of the teeth and gums. Because of this, the child begins an inflammatory process in the jaw bone, and purulent masses begin to accumulate in the root of the tooth. The entire process can be seen as an inflamed lump on the gum. In this case, treatment involves only surgical intervention.

The danger of gumboil for a child is that, if left untreated, periostitis can cause blood poisoning. In addition, the disease can cause tooth loss. That is why, at the first symptoms of gumboil, it is necessary to take the child to the dentist. If it is not possible to visit a doctor, then the pain can be eliminated with folk remedies. To do this, dilute a teaspoon of salt and soda in a glass of water. Rinsing with a soda solution will help relieve inflammation and pain. But even in this case, it is not recommended to delay a visit to the dentist.

trusted-source[ 4 ], [ 5 ], [ 6 ]

Where does it hurt?

Flux on the upper gum

Flux on the upper gum is an inflammatory process with characteristic symptoms. By definition, flux is a complicated form of caries. The disease is provoked by the patient's inattentive attitude to the state of health of the oral cavity and refusal to go to the dentist for preventive examination. Let's consider the process of flux formation on the upper gum.

  • Carious bacteria located on the surface of the tooth or between the teeth penetrate into the pulp. The pulp is a kind of connective tissue that fills the cavity of the tooth, has a loose structure, nerve fibers, blood and lymphatic vessels.
  • As soon as bacteria get into the dental pulp, painful sensations begin, causing discomfort. But as soon as the pulp dies, the pain stops. Very often, it is the fact that the pain stops that gives patients a false feeling that the disease has already passed, which means that a visit to the dentist is postponed.
  • But the inflammation does not stop at the destroyed dental pulp. The inflammatory process becomes chronic. The infection spreads, bacteria multiply, affecting the tooth root and periosteum tissue.
  • Gradually, the chronic form of the disease develops into an acute one. At this stage, purulent masses begin to accumulate, so it is very easy to diagnose gumboil. Because of the pus, an inflamed lump appears on the gum, reddish or purulent-white in color.

Flux on the upper gum causes swelling of the soft tissues of the face, lower eyelid, provokes painful sensations in the ears, eyes and head. Therefore, at the first painful symptoms, you need to go to the doctor.

Flux after gum incision

A gumboil after a gum incision helps to relieve toothache and speed up the process of tissue regeneration of the affected gum. A gum incision is only possible in the acute form of gumboil, when periostitis has formed a purulent inflamed lump on the gum. After the incision, the doctor inserts a drain into the gumboil, which will not allow the wound to heal, but will remove the pus out, cleaning the gum cavity. The drain is removed on the second or third day of treatment, depending on the size of the abscess and the accompanying symptoms.

Many patients complain of aching pain in the jaw after such surgery. Dentists say that pain from gumboil after a gum incision is quite normal. Some are frightened by the fact that in addition to pus, blood may flow from the gum, but this is also quite natural. To speed up the healing process and relieve inflammation and swelling after gumboil, dentists recommend regularly rinsing the mouth with a soda solution (a teaspoon of soda and salt per glass of boiled water). In particularly severe cases, that is, with severe pain after surgery, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics. As a rule, Tsifran or Diazolin is prescribed for periostitis.

trusted-source[ 7 ], [ 8 ], [ 9 ]

Purulent gumboil

Purulent gumboil is odontogenic periostitis. According to statistics, 70% of people suffer from this disease every year. At first, the gumboil is a small abscess, it constantly increases and after a couple of days can reach a solid size. Externally, periostitis looks like a lump located in the oral cavity on the gum.

A purulent abscess causes painful sensations that can radiate sharp pains to the eyes, ears and head. Very often, with gumboil, patients suffer from fever, chills, and sometimes dizziness. Periostitis develops due to infection of the wound on the gum or in the tooth by pathogenic microorganisms. Gumboil accompanies carious diseases and is a complication of tonsillitis or purulent osteomyelitis.

  • Purulent gumboil or as dentists call this disease - purulent acute inflammation of the body of the jaw or the periosteum of the alveolar process. Most often, gumboil appears on the lower jaw, in patients of all ages. The cause of periostitis on the lower jaw is in the first molars and wisdom teeth, less often inflammation occurs in the canines and on the first incisors.
  • If purulent periostitis appears on the upper jaw, the cause is an infectious lesion. The infection can spread from the first molars, premolars or wisdom teeth.

Treatment of purulent gumboil is always surgical. The dentist makes an incision in the gum and inserts a drain into the abscess, which will remove purulent masses from the gumboil. When examining the pus that forms with gumboil, mixed microflora is most often found. As a rule, these are gram-positive and gram-negative rods, staphylococci, streptococci, putrefactive bacteria and other microorganisms that are dangerous to humans. At the same time, about 75% are anaerobic bacteria and about 20-25% aerobic flora. All this suggests that it is imperative to treat purulent periostitis.

Consequences of gumboil

The consequences of gumboil can be fatal. The most dangerous complication after gumboil is phlegmon. Phlegmon is similar to an abscess, but it is not enclosed in a capsule, so it has no defined boundaries. Phlegmon is a purulent form of inflammation of the fatty tissue. The disease affects the maxillofacial region. Phlegmon can be deep and superficial. In the first form, the disease affects the intermuscular tissue, and in the superficial form, it affects the subcutaneous tissue.

The danger of phlegmon is that without appropriate treatment the disease takes a progressive form and affects healthy tissues. In this case, the patient experiences constantly increasing pain symptoms. The main symptoms of the lesion are impaired jaw mobility, pain when eating, deterioration of respiratory and speech functions. In particularly severe cases, facial asymmetry is disturbed, general well-being worsens, and a high temperature persists.

Treatment of phlegmon, that is, one of the most dangerous complications of gumboil, is surgical. In this case, the patient is hospitalized in a dental clinic. In addition to phlegmon, periostitis can cause blood poisoning, and in the worst case, a fatal outcome, that is, the death of the patient.

trusted-source[ 10 ], [ 11 ], [ 12 ]

Diagnosis of gumboil

Diagnosis of gumboil consists of visual examination, collection of clinical data and X-ray examination. Laboratory tests that determine the stage and form of the inflammatory process also help to make the correct diagnosis.

  • Before visiting the dentist, it is forbidden to take painkillers, as this reduces the sensitivity of the teeth. One way to determine the pain is to lightly tap on the tooth.
  • The dentist performs a thorough examination of the oral cavity to identify visible lesions.
  • The doctor applies cold and heat to the dental nerve in order to determine the level of sensitivity.
  • In some cases, when diagnosing gum flux, the dentist stimulates the tooth with a light electric current.
  • An obligatory method of diagnosing periostitis is an X-ray examination. Using a dental X-ray, the doctor can see the size of the purulent lesion and the exact location of the source of pain.

trusted-source[ 13 ]

Who to contact?

What to do if a gumboil bursts?

Many people who have encountered inflammatory diseases in the oral cavity have noted that the gumboil has burst. If the abscess has burst and the purulent masses have come out, then for a while the patient feels relief and a decrease in painful symptoms. Because of this, patients have the mistaken opinion that the disease has passed, and they refuse to go to the dentist.

But such behavior is incorrect and quite dangerous for health. Since the pathogenic microflora of periostitis remains on the gum tissue. And this means that in the future there may be relapses of gum flux and it is only a matter of time. Therefore, if the gum flux bursts, you should not postpone a visit to the dentist, since periostitis is a serious disease that can lead to many complications.

Treatment of gum flux

Treatment of gumboil is a long process that consists of several stages. The primary task of the dentist is to eliminate pathogenic bacteria in the places of their localization. Therefore, during the treatment, the patient is prescribed medications and local disinfection, that is, rinsing the mouth. Let's take a closer look at the features of gumboil treatment.

At the dentist's appointment

The doctor uses anesthesia, cleans the gums and bone tissue. If the gumboil has already broken through when you go to the dentist, the doctor makes an incision in the gum and cleans out the purulent masses.

If the abscess has not yet burst, the doctor installs a special drain that will remove the pus. The affected area of the gum is treated with antibacterial agents for disinfection. If the tooth is in a neglected state, the doctor removes it, as it is a source of bacteria. If the doctor installs a drain, then after a couple of days the pus comes out, the doctor removes it and sutures the gum.

trusted-source[ 14 ]

Medicinal treatment of gumboil

Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and antihistamines are used to treat acute and chronic forms of gumboil, which causes severe swelling. Medicines are prescribed by a doctor after examining the gumboil. That is, even with this type of treatment, a visit to the dentist is mandatory.

The doctor draws up a treatment plan and gives a prescription for medications. An individual treatment plan is selected for each patient. As a rule, the dentist prescribes Tsifran, Amoxiclav, Lincomycin or Ampiox. Of the anti-inflammatory drugs, they prescribe drugs that contain ibuprofen or nimesudil - Emel, Nimesil. Of the antihistamines, Claritin and Cetirizine have shown particular effectiveness.

Local treatment

As a local treatment for inflammation, mouth rinses are used. A mandatory condition is maintaining the oral cavity cleanliness, so that bacterial microorganisms do not penetrate into the vulnerable place. For rinsing, use a medicinal infusion of chamomile, sage and hydrogen peroxide. The liquid for rinsing should be at an optimal temperature, that is, neither cold nor hot.

Treatment of gum flux at home

It is impossible to cure gumboil at home, so visiting a dentist is one of the mandatory conditions for recovery. But at home, you can rinse, which will relieve pain and swelling. Taking antibiotics or trying to pierce the purulent gumboil cone is strictly prohibited. With periostitis, you cannot apply hot, as this will increase pain and accelerate the development of the disease.

There are also folk methods for treating gumboil, but they do not cure periostitis, but only relieve pain, swelling and promote faster healing of the wound on the gum after removal of the abscess.

  • Mix two spoons of oak bark with thirds of spoons of sage and St. John's wort. The herbs must be poured with boiling water and boiled in a steam bath for 10-15 minutes. Rinse the mouth with the decoction, up to 10-12 procedures per day.
  • Pour water over the iris root and sage and boil. It is recommended to take the herbs in equal proportions. As soon as the decoction cools down, it must be filtered and can be used for rinsing.
  • An infusion of knotweed, eryngium and sage helps to cope with pain and swelling in gumboil. Take two tablespoons of each herb, pour two glasses of boiling water and let it brew. After 1-2 hours, you can start rinsing. In case of acute pain, it is recommended to soak a cotton swab in the infusion and apply it to the sore tooth.

Flux is a serious disease that should be treated by a dentist. Without treatment, periostitis takes an acute or chronic form. Purulent masses along with blood begin to spread throughout the body and cause disruptions in the functioning of organs. At the first symptoms of flux, contact a dentist, since self-medication will not help eliminate the disease, and refusal of medical care can lead to very dire consequences.

More information of the treatment

Prevention of gumboil

Prevention of gumboil consists of basic rules of oral hygiene. Preventive examinations at the dentist and timely treatment of diseases are mandatory. In case of caries, the dentist should be visited 2-3 times a year for prevention purposes. It is also important to avoid hypothermia and strengthen the immune system.

Removing tartar is also mandatory, as it deposits many bacteria that contribute to the development of periostitis. Prevention of gumboil also involves proper nutrition. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits, chew hard vegetables well, as this helps strengthen the gums.

Forecast of gumboil

The prognosis for gumboil depends on the stage of the disease and the current symptoms. If the patient consults a dentist at the first symptoms of gumboil, the prognosis is favorable, since the doctor will help cure periostitis without complications. With timely treatment, the inflammation decreases in a couple of days, swelling, redness and pain gradually subside. But in patients with weakened immunity, the recovery process is delayed.

If the patient ignored the painful symptoms of gumboil and went to the dentist only when periostitis became chronic or acute, the prognosis is not very favorable. Since during the treatment, the doctor can remove the affected tooth and perform surgery on the gum. If the patient does not seek medical help even when an abscess appears, this causes the infection to spread throughout the body, blood poisoning, and even death.

Flux on the gum is one of the most serious dental diseases. Timely treatment of dental diseases, regular preventive examinations at the dentist, oral hygiene and proper nutrition that strengthens the immune system - can prevent flux on the gum.

You are reporting a typo in the following text:
Simply click the "Send typo report" button to complete the report. You can also include a comment.