The tooth may be tender to the touch and hurt when there is a sudden change in temperature. You may also get a fever, but you know you are in trouble when your face starts to swell, which is when you should seek immediate action, as the condition can become life threatening in some cases.

If you can’t see a dentist, you should find a doctor and if it means going to the hospital, so be-it. The abscess can only be attacked and treated once you have been given antibiotics to stop the blood from becoming poisoned and to reduce the swelling.

Once the abscess has gone, your dentist can get to work on you. One of the biggest causes of this condition is tooth decay, so there is a good chance you will need a root canal and then have your gums cleaned, as well as your tooth deep below the gum-line.

The problem with an abscess is that they never really do go away and can flare up again at anytime, which means the only way to stop this from happening is to have the tooth removed. Of course prevention is better than cure and if you have had a problem with an abscess, it means that you are not looking after your teeth well enough and so should re-think your personal oral hygiene.

Sadly you may never win the battle, but you can at least try everything you can to educate them. You know the pitfalls and damage that too much sugar can do to your children’s teeth and body- they are bad for their minds and body and most importantly, their teeth, so you must try to impress this upon them as well.

However, the thing you mustn’t do is stop them altogether from indulging in sweets, otherwise they will do exactly the opposite. As they grow up, it is down to you to ensure they have a balanced diet throughout the day, which will help to counter any sugar intake. There are a lot of sweets on the market today that use sugar substitutes and you should try to wean them in this direction, as it will still seem to them they are not being prevented from eating sweets and candies.

Ensuring they grasp the importance of oral hygiene is also imperative and teaching them to keep their teeth and gums clean after the consumption of sweets is very useful. But there is also a certain way to avoiding tooth decay spreading in your kids’ mouths and that is to have them fitted with dental sealants. It won’t stop them pigging out on sweets, but it sure will prevent their teeth from rotting away.

You should begin by ensuring they remain healthy throughout your life and this comes from good oral hygiene and regular dental check-ups. Brushing three times a day followed by flossing should be enough to keep plaque from developing into complications such as gum disease and tooth decay. But you can also back this up by regular massaging the gums with herbal remedies to keep them stimulated and the blood flowing healthily.

Your dentist can also back you up by fixing anything that may go wrong. Of course, diet is important too and if you have a well balanced and healthy one, this will help to maintain a strong immune system that is able to fight bacteria in the mouth naturally.

But it’s not just about hygiene and diet. We put our teeth and gums in jeopardy everyday by what we eat, but if we are of a sporting nature, we will be doubling this jeopardy by putting our mouths in danger through injury. So we need to protect these areas by wearing a mouth-guard, something that also comes in handy if we suffer from teeth grinding. It all sounds a little complex, yet once fitted into your routine, your teeth and gums will remain as healthy as you.

But in many surgeries these days around Worcester Park, there is a new player in town that has revolutionized the way dental treatments are performed, the laser. This carries out work without doing hardly any damage to the teeth or gum tissue meaning that the procedure is virtually painless.

One such treatment is Water-lase, and incorporates a fine jet of water around the laser as it burns. It is so precise that treatments are carried out with the minimum of pain but with maximum efficiency and because little damage is done due to the lack of vibration, recovery afterwards is rapid.

Laser treatment has replaced the drill and you will find it being in all walks of life by your dentist; it can be used for teeth whitening, fillings, root canal treatment and gum contouring.

But possibly its flagship use has come in the placing of dental implants. This was once a complex operation, but now, thanks to the laser, it has become so easy and comfortable to do, getting an implant fitted these day is as simple as having a filling. Pain free dentistry though, come on, who ever thought that day would arrive?!