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Diagnoses

Phoenix abscess

About this diagnosis

Diagnoses are associated with common findings which are used to prescribe appropriate treatment.

Alternate terms: Abscess, phoenix; Abscessed tooth.

Phoenix abscess is a painful condition in which the apical portion of a tooth's root becomes inflamed, which may result in swelling and fever. Almost always, the condition occurs secondary to a chronic infection. The term "phoenix" is an older term, and its use is becoming less commonplace in favor of more descriptive terms such as "chronic" (which generally features a lesion that can be seen on X-ray) and "suppurative", which means "draining". Drainage from infections can produce a bad taste and halitosis (bad breath).

View animation Dental Abscess

An acute apical abscess resulted from deep dental caries or decay in this molar tooth.

Figure 1: A lower molar tooth with deep caries (tooth decay), which provided a pathway for bacteria into the pulp of the tooth and led to an abscess at the root apex.