i went to the dentist two days ago and was told that i have a small tooth infection and i was given a proscription for antibiotics but was told to not take it until a week before i come back to have the procedure done but i dont go back to have it done until two weeks into July i asked if i would be ok until then and i was told that the infection is so small that its little to none o i will be ok until then is there a such thing as that i just want to make sure because i know that tooth infection can spread to your brain and kill you so do you think i will be ok?
– Edwina from Maryland

Edwina,
Yes, there is a such a thing as a tooth infection being so small that you don’t need to worry about it affecting your general health. Usually that’s the case.

Yes, a tooth infection can get out of hand and then you’re right, it can spread to your brain. If it’s in the lower jaw, the swelling can also spread down your throat and complicate breathing.  But before it did that it would become painful and would swell up quite a bit.

I will add that your dentist is wise to ask you not to take the antibiotic until close to your appointment. If you take it now, you run the risk of cultivating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There is no way for antibiotics alone to eradicate a tooth infection because they can’t get inside the tooth at its source. So the infection will always come back unless you treat the tooth by eradicating the source. You can read here about a sad case where a young man died from a tooth infection. The bacteria became antibiotic resistant, and even though the man was hospitalized, nothing the doctors could do would work.
Dr. Hall