Tooth Infection Treatment
Teaneck, NJ & Roselle, NJ
 If a tooth has been bothering you for days or weeks (a lingering ache, sensitivity to hot and cold that won’t quit, a strange taste, or a dull throb that comes and goes), you may be dealing with a tooth infection. RJ Dental provides tooth infection treatment in Teaneck and Roselle, NJ for patients who suspect something is wrong but haven’t hit the acute stage yet. Catching an infection at this point usually means simpler treatment, less pain, and a much higher chance of saving the tooth.
The frustrating thing about a tooth infection is that the symptoms can come and go, which makes it easy to talk yourself into waiting. The pain eases for a few days, you decide it’s probably nothing, and then it comes back worse. We see this pattern often. The infection isn’t healing during those quiet stretches. It’s slowly progressing, and the gap between manageable and "I can’t sleep" can close fast.
If you’re already past the early stage and dealing with visible swelling, drainage, or a swollen face, our dental abscess treatment page covers that acute presentation more directly. For everyone else, the people noticing symptoms but still functioning, this page walks you through what we look for, how we diagnose what’s actually going on, and what your treatment options are. Same-day emergency dental care is available if you’d rather not wait.
On This Page
Understanding a Tooth Infection
 A tooth infection happens when bacteria reach the inner pulp of a tooth, where the nerve and blood vessels live. Your body responds with inflammation, the nerve gets irritated or starts to die, and pus accumulates if the bacteria multiply faster than the immune response can keep up. The result is the symptoms you’re feeling: aching, sensitivity, pressure, sometimes a fever or a bad taste.
Most tooth infections start one of three ways. The most common is deep tooth decay that wasn’t caught early enough, where bacteria from a cavity work their way through the enamel and dentin and eventually reach the pulp. The second is a fracture or crack that creates a path for bacteria, sometimes from grinding or biting on something hard. The third is a periodontal source, where advanced periodontal disease lets bacteria reach the tooth from below the gumline.
Early Signs vs. Acute Signs
The early signs are easy to dismiss. A specific tooth that’s sensitive to hot or cold for longer than usual. Pain when biting on one side. A dull ache that wakes you up at night and fades by morning. Slight gum tenderness near a single tooth. These are the symptoms you should call about, because they’re telling you something specific is wrong with one tooth.
The acute signs are harder to ignore. Visible facial swelling, drainage, fever, severe constant pain, or a pimple-like bump on the gum that may release pus. If you’re seeing any of those, you’re past the early stage and our dental abscess treatment page describes the same-day care path more directly.
Why a Tooth Infection Won’t Heal on Its Own
This is the most common misconception we see, and it’s worth being direct about. A tooth infection cannot heal on its own. The reason is structural: once bacteria get inside the pulp, your immune system has no good way to reach them, because the pulp lives inside a sealed chamber with limited blood supply. White blood cells can’t get in to fight the infection effectively, and the bacteria keep multiplying.
Antibiotics from your physician or urgent care can knock back the symptoms. They reduce inflammation, lower bacterial load, and the pain often eases within a day or two. That feels like the infection is going away. It isn’t. The source is still there, sealed inside the tooth, and the bacteria recover and rebuild as soon as the antibiotic course ends. We see patients who’ve cycled through three or four antibiotic prescriptions over six months because each round buys them a few weeks of relief, but the infection is still progressing the whole time. Antibiotics are a useful bridge to definitive treatment, not a treatment on their own.
Your Care Team for Tooth Infection Treatment in NJ
RJ Dental has four dentists across our Teaneck and Roselle offices, and tooth infection care draws on different parts of the team depending on what your case turns out to need. The two most directly involved on the diagnostic and definitive-treatment side are Dr. Linda Hunponu-Wusu and Dr. Richard E. Buffong.
Dr. Hunponu-Wusu earned her DMD at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2006 and has continued advanced education in root canal treatment, crowns and bridges, and implant restoration ever since. More on Dr. Hunponu-Wusu’s bio. When the imaging shows the infection is in the pulp and the tooth is restorable, root canal therapy is what saves it, and her endodontic experience is the reason we can handle most cases in-house instead of referring out.
Dr. Buffong is the practice owner, a graduate of UMDNJ, and a Fellow of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists, with full background on Dr. Buffong’s bio. He oversees treatment planning and handles the restorative side: the crown that goes on after a root canal, the implant if a tooth has to come out, the broader plan that gets you back to a healthy mouth.
If your case turns out to need surgical extraction or detailed bone evaluation, Dr. Shahin Ghobadi’s bio covers his postgraduate Oral Surgery residency at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and his AAOMS membership. Dr. Jeannine Stephenson-Buffong, DMD trained at Tufts and rounds out the team, with her bio online for reference. The four of us coordinate care across both offices so you don’t have to chase down separate providers for diagnosis, treatment, and restoration.
How We Diagnose and Treat a Tooth Infection
 Tooth infection care has two clear phases: figuring out what’s actually going on, and treating the source. The diagnostic phase matters because the symptoms of an infected tooth overlap with several other conditions, including a deep cavity that hasn’t reached the pulp yet, a cracked tooth, sensitivity from gum recession, and even referred pain from a sinus problem. We don’t want to do a root canal you don’t need, and we don’t want to send you home with a "wait and see" if you actually need treatment now.
1. Diagnostic Visit and Imaging
The first appointment focuses on figuring out which tooth is involved and what’s wrong with it. We test specific teeth for sensitivity to cold and to bite pressure, look at digital X-rays for signs of infection at the root tip, and use Cone Beam CT imaging when a 2D X-ray doesn’t tell the full story. The 3D scan shows whether bone destruction has started at the root, how many roots and canals the tooth has, and whether the source is endodontic (inside the tooth) or periodontal (gum-related). Most diagnostic visits take 30 to 45 minutes.
2. Antibiotics When They’re Indicated
We don’t prescribe antibiotics for every tooth infection. Current guidelines reserve them for cases with systemic involvement (fever, swelling), patients with certain medical conditions, or cases where definitive treatment has to be delayed by a few days. When antibiotics are appropriate, we typically prescribe a 5- to 7-day course alongside the procedure that addresses the source. The antibiotics manage symptoms while we get the actual cause taken care of.
3. Definitive Treatment
The treatment that actually resolves a tooth infection depends on whether the tooth can be saved. For an infection inside the pulp where the tooth is restorable, root canal therapy is the standard. We open the tooth, remove the infected pulp tissue, clean and shape the root canals, and seal them with a biocompatible material. Our in-office 3D printer fabricates the crown that protects what’s left of the natural tooth structure, often without sending the case to an outside lab.
For a tooth with a vertical root fracture, severely broken-down crown, failed prior root canal, or insufficient remaining tooth structure, tooth extraction is the more reliable path. We remove the tooth, clean out any infection in the socket, and discuss replacement options when you’re ready. If your case has a periodontal source, treatment focuses on the gum side and addresses the underlying gum disease as part of the plan.
4. Follow-Up and Restoration
After definitive treatment, we monitor healing and complete the restoration. A tooth that had a root canal needs a permanent crown within a few weeks to prevent fracture. A tooth that was extracted may need bone preservation and an implant, bridge, or partial denture down the line, depending on which option fits your mouth and budget. We coordinate this whole sequence in our offices instead of bouncing you between specialists.
Why Treating a Tooth Infection Early Matters
A tooth infection caught at the early stage is a different situation than one caught at the acute stage. The treatment is simpler, the success rate is higher, and the cost is lower. The benefits of acting on suspicion are practical.
You’re More Likely to Save the Tooth
Early-stage infections are most often resolvable with a single root canal in our office, with the natural tooth staying in place for years or decades after. Once an infection has destroyed enough bone, fractured the root, or compromised too much of the crown, the same tooth often can’t be saved. Our 3D imaging tells us at the diagnostic visit which side of that line your case sits on.
Treatment Stays Predictable
A scheduled root canal in a relatively healthy tooth is a predictable, well-understood procedure with a high success rate, especially when our digital imaging maps the canal anatomy before we start. The same tooth treated after weeks of symptom progression may have more anatomical complications, more infection in the surrounding bone, and a less straightforward case for our team to manage. The earlier the treatment, the more predictable the result.
You Avoid the Acute Stage
The acute stage is what most people picture when they hear about an infected tooth: the swollen face, the pain that won’t let you eat or sleep, the time off work. Patients who come into our office at the early signs almost never get there. Patients who wait sometimes do, and the acute stage is more painful, more disruptive, and more expensive to treat.
You Stop the Source Before It Spreads
A tooth infection that’s contained inside the tooth and the immediate bone around the root is one problem we can handle in our office. A tooth infection that has extended into deeper tissues, the sinus, or beyond is a different and harder problem that may need hospital coordination. Early treatment keeps the infection localized and our care plan straightforward.
Why Choose Our Practice for Tooth Infection Care
What separates RJ Dental for tooth infection care is that we can take you from suspicion through diagnosis through definitive treatment through restoration without referring you out. Most general practices can diagnose an infection, but they hand off the root canal to an endodontist, the extraction to an oral surgeon, and the restoration back to themselves. That’s three offices, three sets of intake forms, and a treatment timeline that depends on three different schedules aligning.
We have the imaging, the endodontic experience, the in-house oral surgeon, and the restorative team in the same office. A diagnostic visit on Monday can lead to root canal therapy that same week and a permanent crown a few weeks after, all without you driving to a different building. The 3D imaging from our Cone Beam CT is what makes the difference between confirming the source on the first visit and going through diagnostic guesswork that lengthens treatment timelines.
We also use the visit as a starting point if you haven’t had regular dental care in a while. Many tooth infections show up because regular checkups got missed for a few years and decay had time to progress. After your infection clears, we can sequence you back into routine periodontal care and exams so the next problem gets caught at the cavity stage instead of the infection stage.
Both offices serve different geographies. Teaneck handles patients near Bergenfield, Englewood, Fort Lee, and Hackensack. Roselle handles patients near Elizabeth, Linden, Cranford, and Westfield. You can be seen at whichever office is closer.
Cost and Insurance for Tooth Infection Treatment
We’ll be straight with you about cost. The price of treating a tooth infection depends on what your case actually requires (a root canal and crown, an extraction and replacement, a periodontal-side treatment plan, or some combination) and on whether the tooth needs additional work like a buildup or post before the crown can be placed.
Most dental insurance plans cover a portion of diagnostic visits, root canal therapy, extractions, crowns, and other infection-related care. We participate with Delta Dental Premier, MetLife, Guardian, Horizon Blue Cross & Blue Shield Traditional, Aetna PPO, United Concordia, and others, with the full list on our insurance and financing options. We verify your benefits before treatment so you know your share in advance.
For patients without insurance, our dental discount plan reduces the cost of exams, X-rays, and major work by up to 20%. Financing is also available through Sunbit, CareCredit, or LendingPoint with flexible monthly payments. If the full treatment plan feels out of reach, tell us. We’ll always start with what’s needed to address the infection and stage longer-term restoration over time.
Schedule a Consultation for Tooth Infection Care
If a tooth has been bothering you, don’t wait for it to escalate. Call our Teaneck office at (551) 369-2001 or our Roselle office at (908) 488-5005 to schedule a diagnostic visit. You can also request an appointment online and we’ll reach out promptly. Our Teaneck office is at 865 Teaneck Rd, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Our Roselle office is at 121-125 Chestnut St, Suite 201, Roselle, NJ 07203.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my tooth pain is an infection or just sensitivity?
The clearest difference is duration and trigger. Normal sensitivity flares briefly when you eat or drink something hot or cold and goes away within seconds. Infection-related pain lingers after the trigger is gone, often for minutes, and frequently shows up spontaneously without an obvious cause. Pain that wakes you up at night or radiates to your jaw or ear is also more characteristic of an infection. The only way to be certain is a clinical exam and X-ray, which usually settles the question in one visit. We hold same-day diagnostic slots at both offices when symptoms are concerning.
My doctor gave me antibiotics and the pain went away. Am I done?
No. The pain easing means the antibiotics are managing your symptoms, not that the infection is gone. Once the prescription ends, the bacteria almost always recover and the symptoms come back, often within a week or two of finishing the course and sometimes worse than before. The only way the infection actually resolves is by addressing the source through root canal therapy or extraction, which we handle in-house at both our Teaneck and Roselle offices.
Will I need a root canal?
Most teeth with an infection in the pulp are candidates for root canal therapy, especially when the tooth structure is largely intact. The deciding factors are how much healthy tooth structure remains, whether the root has cracked, and whether previous treatments have failed. Once we have the imaging, we can usually tell you in the first visit whether root canal or extraction is the better path. In our experience, root canal therapy is the more common outcome because most infections caught in the early stages don’t reach the point where the tooth has to come out.
Will the root canal hurt?
You shouldn’t feel pain during the procedure because we numb the tooth and surrounding tissue completely before starting. Most patients say it feels similar to having a filling done. The discomfort people dread is usually the pre-treatment infection pain, which root canal therapy actually relieves rather than causes. Mild soreness for a day or two afterward is normal and responds to over-the-counter pain medication.
How long until I feel better after treatment?
Most patients notice major relief within 24 to 48 hours of definitive treatment. The lingering ache from infection pressure usually drops sharply once we’ve removed the infected tissue. Mild post-procedure soreness fades over the next few days. If pain or swelling worsens after treatment instead of improving, that’s a signal to call us. It should get better, not worse.
What can I do for the pain in the meantime?
Over-the-counter ibuprofen and acetaminophen, taken together as directed on the labels, manage tooth infection pain better than either one alone for most patients. Cold compresses on the outside of your face can help reduce inflammation. Avoid chewing on that side and stick to soft, lukewarm foods. What you should not do is heat the area, since warm compresses can pull infection toward the surface and worsen swelling. None of this treats the infection itself, but it makes the wait until your appointment more bearable.
How much does tooth infection treatment cost?
We can’t give an accurate number without seeing what’s going on, because the cost depends on whether you need a root canal, an extraction, what kind of restoration follows, and whether additional work like bone grafting is involved. After diagnostic imaging, we’ll walk through the specific plan and the cost at each stage before any treatment starts. Insurance, our dental discount plan, and financing through Sunbit, CareCredit, or LendingPoint are all options to make care affordable.
Can a tooth infection spread to the rest of my body?
It’s rare but possible, and the risk goes up the longer an infection sits untreated. Tooth infections can extend into the jawbone, the sinus cavity (for upper teeth), the soft tissues of the face and neck, and in extreme cases the bloodstream. Most patients in our practice never get close to that point because they get treated in time. The warning signs that an infection is becoming systemic are fever, rapidly spreading swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, and severe lethargy. Any of those mean the ER, not our office. |
