The term abscess is usually used in medicine parlance to refer to a localized area of tissue that has leaked or swelled due to an infection.
Infections can occur anywhere in the body, but in the mouth, it is usually due to a bacterial or viral infection. This area of the body is typically vulnerable due to its frequent movement and contact with the tongue and surrounding areas of the mouth.
Dogs are considered human beings too, so it is not uncommon for them to seek out an abscess as a mechanism for symptom relief. If your dog has a persistent pain abscess, you may be forced to use more severe measures such as topical antibiotics or more invasive procedures.
This can be risky and/or expensive! Depending on where you go, what you have, and if you have stopped the infusion, this could lead to waste accumulations which lead to poor healing or wear.
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Cold compress
Wrapping your dog’s front leg in a towel and placing a large sheet or blanket almost exclusively on her back is one way to try to cool off the pain and swelling that occurs when an abscess develops.
This procedure, called compressing the wound with a towel, can help reduce pain and swelling slightly. If done correctly, it can also lead to further cooling by being placed in a water bowl as soon as the compressive effect of the water has prevented any fluid from escaping.
This is what happened with my dog! Her abscess developed about three weeks after she had two major surgeries to remove some surrounding tissue. The first surgery was for her hip joint, and the second was for her hip socket. She had surgery on both occasions in June 2016, and October 2017 was when she had this new abscess developed.
The surgeon told me that if she hadn’t had the second surgery, then it would have been more difficult to prevent this new abscess from developing because it was partially healed.
Ice chips
As discussed earlier, ice chips can help reduce pain during a cold or frozen paw. When your dog has a tooth abscess, you can try this remedy.
After your dog has the tooth exposed, remove it by gently pulling apart the two roots. Then, whirl a kitchen towel around the outside of the tooth and place it in warm water until the pain is gone.
To prevent infection, keep the tooth covered with warm water and a mild antibiotic such as Witchazel or similar cold medicine. After an hour of being damp, put it out with water to dry.
Then wrap up the cat or dog in warm blankets and place them in a comfortable room with nothing disturbing them for at least a few days. Keep an eye on it for any signs of infection or bleeding so you can take action.
Apply pressure to the area
If your dog has a tooth ache, try applying pressure to the area using your hands or a pillowcase. You can also use a bag of potato chips or a piece of cheese as a pressure point.
Press the area firmly together and leave it for at least an hour before cleaning. This helps open up the skin around the tooth and makes it more likely that water will flow into it to heal it.
After an hour, carefully remove the item and continue sleeping with your dog. The next day, you can begin giving yourself some relief by taking some over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. You can also ask your vet if any are safe for you to give your dog.
Put salt on the tooth
After a dog chews on a hard surface, such as a table or floor, make sure to apply some salt onto the tooth. This prevents the area from becoming wet and sticky, which could cause further damage.
Once you have done this, you must wait for it to dry completely before attempting to remove the tooth. Once this has happened, you can take off the denture or rubbery piece that holds the tooth in place.
Then, you can try removing the bone that held it in place before. This may be difficult if your dog has attacked it, but if not then just use some mild household bleach and water to gentle clean it.
After that, you can put in a new denture or try replacing the old one with a better one.
Brush their teeth regularly
The best way to prevent tooth decay in dogs is to brush their teeth every other day or once a week for most dogs. This includes all routine meals and non-breakfast or lunchtime snacks.
Also, walking your dog often can help keep them from eating onion and garlic, two common things dogs are taught to eat. By making sure to get these foods into your dog regularly, they will be healthy enough to play with them.
As you can see, this medicine works for a lot of people! There are even online companies that offer this treatment for free, just in case your dog needs it.
Use store-bought teeth cleaning solution
It is very hard to remove all the plaque that is on your dog’s teeth. Most of it cannot be cleaned with toothpaste alone, because it gets stuck in the brush.
However, you can use a diluted solution of salt and water to clean your dog’s teeth. This is what store-bought tooth cleaning solutions are made of: salt and water!
Just make sure to check your dog’s coat to see if there are any dry spots where the salt and water didn’t work. A dry coat would indicate that the Salt Remedy for Dog Tooth Abscess worked!
Try using this Home Remedy for Dog Tooth Abscess first before resorting to a trip to the vet. The vet can test your dog for signs of infection, determine if it has an abscess, and give you some treatment options such as antibiotics or restocking its pain medication.
Use store-bought mouthwash
If your dog has a cavity, you can easily prevent or treat it with a few common products: Activated Charcoal mouthwash, witch hazel, and sugar water.
Activated charcoal is most commonly found in toothpastes, sometimes mixed in with other cleaning products. It works by removing foreign objects like coins and small things like pepperidgeiseas like potato chips can get stuck in the powder and remain toxic for long periods of time.
Witch hazel is an effective dry substance that can be put on wounds to prevent infection. Because of this, witch hazel is a great way to treat an infected toothache.
Sugar water or glucose contains can help reduce pain and swelling during an acute toothache.
Give them natural home remedies
One of the most common ways to fix a dog with a tooth abscess is to give them a nice warm bath. Many times, dogs will prefer the bath over the same cleaning technique done with toilet paper or only reasonable amounts of water and effort spent cleaning.
Another good way to clean your dog is to use consult with their vet before changing medications or introducing new ones. Many times, changes in medication require a veterinarian review to determine whether or not it is effective and if it should be changed.
Sometimes medicines work better together than one time only, so looking into whether or not this medicine works with another one may be helpful.