About ten years ago I developed what can only be described as a bulging blister on my gum line near my molars. It became bothersome, so because I’m an idiot I decided to lance that sucker with a toothpick. Sweet relief! It bust and pushing on it I was able to get a large amunt of green puss out of my gum. I rinsed my mouth with water and forgot about it.
Recently I went to the dentist and for some reason I mentioned this to him. He was insistent that I was an idiot and claimed I could have killed myself. So, did I do something wrong? Is it dangerous to remove puss from your mouth?
IANAD, WAG if you’ve got a pus-filled blister then you’ve got an infection, and after popping it you’ve now got an open wound. Anytime you’ve got an infection and an open wound you’re in danger of sepsis.
Read up on bacterial endocarditis. Certain bacteria commonly found in the mouth are particularly good at infecting the heart and heart valves. Folks with certain heart conditions are more at risk and have to take precautions such as prophylactic antibiotics before even routine dental work, nevermind in the presence of an acute infection.
Second point, infections in the jaw can easily spread to the jawbone, or the sinus (and points further in extreme cases). Third, an infection can also indicate a problem with your teeth in that area. Your dentist was right. If you have a bad infection in your jaw/mouth/gum, you should seek a medical opinion.
On the plus side, if it happens again, video that sucker, post it on YouTube and make a (small) fortune!
dentist here. I’m not sure idiot is the right term, but not smart as a general rule. Not real likely to kill yourself and removing pus is always good, just probably not how you went about it. You took care of the acute problem, but not the cause of it. Most likely it would have been either a periodontal(gum) infection or endodontic(abscessed tooth) infection. Since it didn’t recur I would assume that you set up a path for continued drainage since the root cause of the infection wasn’t addressed. Chronic infections aren’t a good thing but unless you are immunocompromised or have severe heart issues it probably isn’t a large health threat. It is of course best to eliminate the source of the infection. As others have posted dental infections can spread and sometimes frighteningly fast. Since you didn’t get a recurrence I’d say you were okay.
I had open-heart surgery four years ago. I also have a history of gum disease. Every time I go to the periodontists, I have to take four capsules of amoxicillin beforehand. Gum disease and heart disease are not a good combination.
Had a co-worker who did more or less the same thing, but squeezed instead of poked. Instead of rupturing and draining to the outside the pus drained internally. Within 24 hours his face swelled up and the eye on that side swelled shut. At that point he had the sense to seek actual medical assistance and a round of antibiotics took care of the systemic infection.
So yeah, do-it-yourself surgery has some risks.
For more fun, you can google images of skeletons with dental abscess or other infections and see bone that’s been eaten away.
Don’t know when/if the co-worker had dental work done on the decayed tooth that caused the problem in the first place. For all I know, he used a pair of pliers on that himself, it would be in character.
Removing pus is good. But doing it yourself may miss the cause. Trench mouth (ANUG) and Vincent’s angina can be very painful and dangerous infections. The big danger is infection that spreads to the neck or near the airway.