Acute pulpitis

Inside the tooth is a small amount of soft tissue pierced by thin blood vessels. It can become inflamed in response to any irritating factors. In such cases, acute pulpitis develops, which is a rather dangerous condition that can cause severe complications and loss of both the affected tooth and neighboring ones.

Causes of acute focal and diffuse pulpitis

Usually, the pathology under consideration occurs against the background of the following diseases:

• advanced caries;
• periodontitis;
• osteomyelitis;
• sepsis;
• incorrectly performed dental treatment;
• periodontitis;
• sinusitis;
• acute bacterial infections;
• trauma and broken teeth.

Symptoms of acute pulpitis

General signs of the inflammatory process:

• paroxysmal toothache;
• spontaneous occurrence of unpleasant sensations;
• the spread of pain along the branches of the trigeminal nerve;
• increased discomfort at night;
• severe sensitivity of the affected tooth to the effects of cold and hot food, drinks.

There are 2 types of the disease in question – acute serous and purulent pulpitis.

The first indicated form is characterized by the accumulation of a dense infiltrate in the cavity of the tooth, but without the addition of a bacterial infection. If treatment is not started within 24-48 hours, the symptoms will intensify, the pain will radiate to the temple, ear, eyebrow, and back of the head. After that, serous pulpitis will go into a purulent stage.

It is worth noting that the attachment of a microbial infection, the pain syndrome subsides a little, as there is a rapid destruction of the nerve fibers connected to the causative tooth. Because of this, the patient may not go to the dentist, believing that the pathology has passed on its own. In fact, running acute pulpitis within 3-10 days will turn into a chronic process, which is quite difficult to get rid of.

Treatment of acute pulpitis

Therapy is being developed with the aim of stopping inflammation and restoring normal functions of the pulp:

1. Taking analgesics for pain relief.



2. Alkalinization of the tooth cavity with bandages with antibiotics, calcium preparations.
3. Physiological procedures (fluctuarization, laser therapy, apex-phoresis).
4. Tooth filling.

If conservative methods are unacceptable, partial or complete removal of the pulp and root canal system is performed. After that, in the absence of inflammation and patient complaints, the affected tooth is filled.