Introduction

A bacterial infection is generally the cause of a tooth abscess which is a pocket of pus. Nearly everyone experiences an abscess that can occur at different regions of the tooth for different reasons. A periapical abscess occurs at the tip of the root, whereas a periodontal abscess occurs in the gums at the side of a tooth root. A periapical tooth abscess usually occurs as a result of an untreated dental cavity, an injury or prior dental work. Tooth abscess is generally treated by dentists by draining and getting rid of the infection. In some cases, it may be possible to save the affected tooth with a root canal treatment, but in some other cases the tooth may need to be extracted. Untreated tooth abscess may lead to some serious complications.^[1]

The infection in an abscessed tooth is that which has spread to the root tip or around the root. This The origin of infection is at the inner chamber of the tooth known as the "pulp chamber". The blood vessels and nerves that exist within the pulp chamber together are called the "pulp." The abscess occurs when the tooth has lost its vitality to fight infection, and as a result, bacteria are able to occupy the pulp chamber and grow rapidly. As a consequence, the bacterial infection normally spreads from the pulp chamber into the bone passing through the bottom of the root.^[2]

Two types of abscesses occur, tooth abscess or gum abscess, according to where the infection starts. The tooth abscess (or "periapical abscess") starts from the pulp of the tooth and spreads into the tooth's top at the root bottom. In contrast, a gum abscess (or "periodontal abscess") starts in a gum pocket outside of the tooth next to the root, and the treatment will depend on where the infection began.

Poor oral hygiene and dental care escalates the risk of an infected tooth. Some instances such as grinding or clenching teeth, sugary diet, other tooth trauma, and even previous dental work can cause one to tooth abscess. Symptoms begin with localized swelling and pain that gets progressively worse over a few days. The abscess in the form of a tender and sore mass may be felt with a finger and bleeding on probing may occur. Patients would usually experience periapical abscesses with unbearable sensitivity to cold and heat

Other causes of tooth abscess are, (i) an accidental blow, (ii) dental treatment such as a crown or a filling that went too close to the pulp chamber. Regardless of how a tooth abscess occurs, the pulp is badly affected and is unable to recover from damage. A blow to the tooth severely affects the blood supply to it and, as a consequence the nutrient supply is also lost resulting in the pulp quickly becoming life-less. In contrast, a trauma from grinding or clenching (occlusal trauma) is a slower, progressive injury to a tooth. A previously treated tooth with a root canal procedure can also develop an abscess. Any tooth can get an abscess. Wisdom teeth in particular are susceptible to get a dental abscess and are difficult to keep clean. AS a result decay can occur without being noticed. Hence, wisdom teeth are generally removed to avoid this type of occurrence. Some types of severe pain such as the throbbing or pulsating pain cannot be relieved with pain killers. It generally happens when the infection is spreading and causing more pressure on the surrounding areas of gum and bone.

The swelling on the gum tissue is filled with pus and it looks like a pimple near the affected tooth which is evident of infection. A bad taste or bad odor in the mouth are other signs of a tooth abscess as also a swelling of the face, jaw pain, or surrounding lymph nodes often indicates a growing infection.

In some cases, abscessed teeth may not present any symptoms, not even pain, because they lost vitality - the ability to feel stimuli. The abscess is still present and could be spreading the dental infection further. An abscessed tooth is unexpectedly detected during a routine radiographic (X-ray) investigation where the patient has not expressed any symptoms of an abscessed tooth. During a routine checkup, a primary care provider or a pediatrician can observe the signs and symptoms to know if a dental abscess is suspect, to refer the matter to a dental service provider for diagnosis and treatment.

Generally, home remedies are not advised for an abscessed tooth, yet remedies such as warm saltwater or baking soda rinses, or a warm moistened teabag compress over the area can be tried for some very temporary relief. However, the infection is still active and will still progress if not properly treated. Avoiding treatment can lead to more serious complications and seeking care and advice from a dental professional is strongly advised.^[2]

When a patient first reports tooth pain, the dentist examines and prescribes generally pain killers and antibiotics as a preliminary step before commencing extraction or root canal treatment after some days. This is where Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) system techniques of Healing can help to reduce pain and eliminate infection without use of drugs.

Case Report

Data collected from 4 cases treated using YPV healing are given In Table 1. It is observed that two healers independently handled two cases each using YPV distance healing protocols to eliminate infection, pain and deferring root canal procedure. Both the healers, who had undergone years of intensive training in YPV healing, were based far from the patient locations (hundreds of kilometers away). Patient cases 1 and 4 were healed by one healer and cases 2 and 3 were healed by the other healer. It is evident that in all 4 reported cases pain reduced completely, and root canal procedure was kept in abeyance. The feedback from patients confirms the successful outcomes.

Discussion

YPV healing played the role of eliminating the infection and pain in tooth without touch or use of drugs. This way, any possibility of side effects of pain killers and anti-bacterial drugs is also avoided. As per the dental practice, a tooth left unattended without the sealing of pulp chamber or even the root apex, once abscess has formed, needs further work to be performed by a dentist.

The open cavity of tooth formed due to decay is to be cleaned and restored with appropriate dental restorative cement. The canal needs disinfectant and proper irrigation once the abscess is subsided. The canal, after the abscess, is not to be left vacant. Root canal treatment involves disinfecting the entire canal till the apex, widening it in order to make space for proper restorative root canal sealers and materials. Once the abscess formed in tooth, the tooth is non-vital after the pulp is decomposed.

This lifeless tooth or non-vital tooth has no blood supply. Hence it becomes brittle even after root canal treatment. On regular usage this brittle tooth easily cracks up due to lack of moisture in it. Hence these little cracks formed on chewing anything hard can propagate further and deteriorate tooth structure into pieces. That is why a crown is always recommended after Root canal.

It is further to be noted that Root canal therapy (RCT) is a treatment to clean, disinfect, reshape and restore the infected tooth. RCT treated teeth are all lifeless or non-vital. Crown or dental cap is given to preserve the integrity of the tooth structure which is lifeless or non-vital.

Conclusion

From this sample case study, it follows that YPV healing protocols worked well to eliminate infection and pain in abscessed tooth, producing consistent results in all 4 reported cases, without need of any drugs and associated side effects. The healers independently handled their respective cases using standard YPV protocols, and this confirms repeatability of the designated YPV protocols. However, further dental treatment is to be carried out by a dentist to remove the decay mechanically. It is thus recommended that YPV protocols can be used as complementary medicine for dental patients to eliminate infection and pain without drugs as a preliminary treatment paving the way for a dentist to do further work on the abscessed tooth.

Conflicts of Interest

None.

Source of Funding

None.