My 3Yr Old Has an Abcess on His Gums

I would call them anyway. They should have someone on call and I would consider this one of those times when you should see if they can see him today. One time my SD's braces broke and she really needed to see someone (it cut her mouth pretty bad) and the orthodontist had us see a fellow doctor that was on call that weekend. The issue with an infection like that is it can become systemic. I wouldn't wait. If there is no one on call, I'd consider the ER.

Absess usually signifies infection. Get him to the denist right away. They can try a course of antibiotics to see if that helps. Often in kids this young, they will just pull the tooth so that it can drain.

In the meantime, see if you can get him to gargle warm salt water. Or, go to the drugstore and get a plastic syringe that you can draw warm salt water into and rinse his gums and then spit out.
Definitely get him an appointment though for an evaluation.

Infections in the upper gums can lead to infections in the sinuses or the ears. Infection in the body isn't good in general.

Best wishes.

If you believe your son has an abscess, then he has an infection, and infections in the head can travel to the brain quickly (which almost happened to my brother who nearly died.) A friend's son had an abscessed tooth but didn't complain, though she could see it, and he had a heart attack, the infection traveled through his bloodstream. His doctor told her that she shouldn't have played around with an infection so my suggestion to you is to call his dentist and see if they have after hours emergency care, or take him to the ER to get him on antibiotics.

Sounds like an abcess. I would call the dentist (hopefully has off hour phone) and get a prescription for antibiotics. Then you can wait to see the dentist until next week.

This happened to my 7 year old...from repeated damage to one tooth/root. He was in pain. The dentist called in a prescription, we saw him when we got back and a few weeks later the tooth was pulled out.

If it is an abcess....he needs antibiotics and an xray.

I would put a call in to the dentist through the emergency number or call the pediatrician. The child needs to have started on antibiotics already.

A friend of mine had an abscess and the infection went to her heart and had started effecting her brain. It would have been only hours until she was dead. Mouth infections are so serious because they are close to the brain and once they get into that area can be fatal.

Please just call the doc or dentist. Maybe even take him to an ER that is a children's hospital, or a teaching hospital. They often have dental programs or residents who are going to be dentists that can see the child and see if there is a more serious issue.

Oh goodness, call right away. You don't want to let an abscess get worse, it's already a couple days!! An abscess is an infection!! You don't actually have to see the dentist right now, you can get an antibiotic for the infection, and see them on Monday. Abbesses on the gums can easily enter your bloodstream and travel other places, please don't wait.

When I had this, it was b/c my tooth was fractured in the root. After a while my whole face swelled up and I had to have the tooth removed. Don't wait. Call first thing on Monday unless he complains of pain first.
Mine didn't hurt at all for months while I kept getting puss filled gums. It definately needs to be looked at.

did he have the tooth root canaled? take him to the dr he needs antibiotics

You don't want to mess with an abscess. If you can't get hold of the dentist you could probably get it taken care of at the ER. I had an abscess a week before my wisdom teeth were due to be pulled, my face was swollen and in pain. My mom happened to be staying with us and forced me to go to the ER. They drained the abscess and gave me antibiotics.

Diet is huge when it comes to teeth. If he isn't eating a well balanced diet his teeth won't be healthy. I would be calling the dentist to get him on antibiotic. My daughter had an access on one of her teeth when she was little. Poor thing had a horrible time and they finally had to just pull it. Get him on the antibiotic before it begins to give him pain.

Hope you were able to get him to the dentist this week. If so, what did he/she determine it to be?

My 6 year old daughter had an abcess as well and it turned out that she had a very bad cavity in one of her lower baby teeth but she didn't complain of any major pain. The original filling had fallen out which left that particular tooth more exposed to decay. The dentist pulled that baby tooth since it wasn't worth it to put a big filling on a baby tooth. The abcess developed near that tooth, on the gum line, due to that big cavity. When the dentist pulled the tooth, the abcess opened and drained. He said that antibiotics were not necessary since the mouth heals very quickly. That same daughter also had another small abcess on the upper gum, near one of her canine teeth. There was some internal decay occuring on that tooth so my dentist did a pulpectomy (it is like a baby root canal but doesn't go deep into the roots) - basically he cleaned out the internal pulp and filled it with whatever they used. The abcess went away on its own.

Every case / infection is different so please don't panic until you see the dentist.

Hope this helps!