Dental abscess

Patients should be monitored for signs of improvement after treatment. A complete blood count should be ordered to make sure that the white blood cell count is decreasing. In patients with more serious infections or other comorbid conditions, serum electrolytes and other biomarkers should be checked to make sure that other parameters are also returning to normal. Temperature should be monitored closely to make sure that fever is subsiding. Drainage should be checked to make sure the abscess is reducing in volume.

If there are no signs of improvement, a computed tomography scan of the head and neck may be useful to assess whether the initial operation provided adequate drainage or whether there has been progression of the infection with the need to consider further operative intervention.