Swelling around a single tooth usually has a local cause: trapped food, a gum abscess from a deep gum pocket, an infected nerve inside the tooth, or an inflamed flap over a wisdom tooth. A cracked tooth or a rough filling edge can also do it. Rinse with warm salt water and clean gently, but get it examined, because an X-ray is usually needed to tell these apart.
When the whole mouth bleeds a little, the cause is usually general gum inflammation. When the swelling is in one place, around one tooth, the dentist starts looking for something specific to that spot. Here are the usual suspects, roughly in order of how often they turn up.
A popcorn husk, a fish bone, a sliver of supari or a fibre from mango can wedge under the gum edge. Within a day or two the gum swells and throbs. Gently flossing on both sides of the tooth sometimes brings it out. Never dig with a pin, toothpick tip or safety pin; that can push it deeper or tear the gum.
If gum disease has created a deep pocket next to the tooth, bacteria can get trapped there and form pus. The gum becomes a shiny, tender bump, the tooth may feel slightly loose or high when you bite, and there may be a bad taste. The fix is to drain and clean the pocket thoroughly, and then treat the gum disease that allowed it.
Deep decay, an old large filling or a past injury can kill the pulp (the nerve and blood supply inside the tooth). Infection then leaks out of the root tip and the gum swells near it, sometimes with a small pimple that discharges pus. This is a tooth abscess, and it needs treatment of the tooth itself, usually a root canal or an extraction, not just gum cleaning.
If the swelling is right at the back of the mouth, behind the last molar, it is often pericoronitis: food and bacteria trapped under the flap of gum covering a wisdom tooth. Swallowing can hurt and the mouth may not open fully.
If the swelling is spreading into the cheek, towards the eye or down the neck, or you have fever, difficulty swallowing or difficulty breathing, this is an emergency. Our Kharadi clinic is open until 11 PM; call 8484 990 678. After hours, go to a hospital emergency department. See our emergency dentist page.
Your dentist will examine the gum, measure the pocket, test the tooth, and usually take a digital RVG X-ray of that tooth. Our current published fee for an RVG X-ray is ₹500, and a localised cleaning for an inflamed wisdom tooth area is from ₹1,000; any further treatment is confirmed after examination.
Kharadi runs late. Reception will tell you honestly whether you need an appointment yet.
Book — Rs 500 ☎ 8484990678