Abscess tooth in toddler?

my son is going under anesthesia for some dental work he needs. The told me they would only extract a tooth if it is abscessed or beyond repair. If a tooth is abscessed are you not supposed to be on antibiotics first before it is extracted. My dentist at the University Hospital stated that it was better to extract the tooth then but that he didnt believe any of my toddlers were abscessed anyway

Hi there.

Firstly as a dentist, naturally I will not extract an abscessed tooth.Penecillin antibiotics for 5-7 days are usually prescribed primarily to clear up this bacterial infection.

Why? Because local anasthesia is not fully functional when injected into infected tissue.
Also because of fear of spread of infection by disrupting a localised infected area.

Your dentist should x ray the area to eliminate the suggestion of infection.
However with 'baby' teeth the root structure is extremely shallow so the extraction would not be invasive as such.

These are baby teeth I presume as your son is a toddler?

You personally can probably estimate if he has an abscess..
Is the cheek red, warm, swollen..or any of these?
Has he a fever?
Is he generally unwell?
Has he severe pain?

Without seeing the child I couldnt say but if you are unhappy ask for an x ray.
Good luck

ps May I add in agreement with the answer below yes the obvious thing to do is REMOVE the source of infection,this makes sense.

BUT it IS important sometimes to wait for a few days until the abscess subsides with antibiotic treatment, the reasons are simple! To remove a tooth that presents with a live aerobic or anaerobic infection CAN, not always but can spread the infection and/or lead to increased,spread infection or 'dry'
socket.

Also local anathesia does not function fully when introduced into infected tissue.

Any oral surgeon, or indeed any surgeon generally, MUST check for infection and eliminate infection before surgery.

Rest assured you are dealing with a professional who knows his/her job and your child will be fine.It is Not by any means a big procedure,at the end of the day its an extraxction. Email me for any info anytime

Take care

In America all oral surgeons are taught to get the source of any infection, a tooth in this case, out immediately. This is also taught to all dentists in America today although some like to wait for reasons the previous dentist mentioned. I'm willing to bet oral surgeons in Ireland also would want the tooth out asap. I'm of the believe that the specialist who see and deal with this sort of thing everyday, all day know best. The dentist you are seeing is a pediatric specialist and is doing the correct thing.