An abscess is a pus-filled pocket beside an infected tooth, and it needs draining today, not next week. Call first at (561) 867-8401 and our Palm Beach Gardens office on Northlake Blvd sees you the same day, seven days a week; we don't take walk-in visits. If your face is swelling quickly or you're running a fever, read the next section before you drive here.
The $99 is a minimum fee for patients paying without insurance. It covers a limited, problem-focused emergency exam (ADA code D0140) and the X-ray needed to diagnose the tooth. Treatment is priced separately and quoted to you in writing before any work starts.
Open 7 days a week · Same-day appointments · $99 exam + X-ray · Se habla español
Signs you need dental abscess treatment today
The usual picture is a tooth that has hurt for days, then a gum that puffs up beside it. Sometimes a small bump appears on the gum and drains a foul taste. Sometimes the cheek or jaw swells instead, the skin feels warm, and the tooth is too sore to touch.
Two kinds of abscess exist. One starts at the root tip of a tooth whose nerve has died, usually from deep decay or a crack. The other starts in the gum pocket beside a tooth. The treatment differs, which is why the X-ray matters.
Certain signs mean a hospital emergency room first. Swelling that closes the eye, reaches the neck, or lifts the floor of your mouth; a fever; trouble swallowing, breathing or opening wide. The two closest are Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center on Burns Rd, about 3 miles from our office, and St. Mary's Medical Center on 45th St, about 5 miles toward Riviera Beach. Hospitals treat spreading infection and injuries; they generally don't treat the tooth itself. Back home, call us and we'll deal with the source.
What happens at your same-day visit
The first step is an X-ray to find which tooth is infected and how far the infection has spread into the bone. Then comes a written price and a choice. Nothing starts without your okay.
Draining comes first because it brings the fastest relief. For a root abscess, that usually means opening the tooth to let the pressure out, which is the start of an emergency root canal. For a gum abscess, the pocket is opened and flushed. If the tooth is too damaged to keep, an emergency tooth extraction removes the source entirely. Antibiotics may be prescribed alongside, but on their own they don't cure an abscess; the pus has to come out.
You leave with instructions for salt-water rinses and the date of any follow-up visit if the root canal is being finished in two steps.
Cost of dental abscess treatment in Palm Beach Gardens
Without insurance, the part that finds the infected tooth, the exam and X-ray, is $99. Whichever follows, drainage, a root canal or an extraction, gets quoted separately, in writing, before any of it begins.
Patients insured through a PPO, HMO or Medicare Advantage dental plan have the plan billed for the exam and X-ray. Beyond that: in-house payment plans, plus Sunbit, Cherry and CareCredit financing. Our cost and insurance page lays the rest out, line by line.
Why patients choose our Northlake Blvd office
Infections don't check the calendar, so we're open Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. A cheek that swells on Saturday evening can be drained Sunday morning. Any hour you call, a real person picks up, and after hours the service reserves the first opening for you: 7:00 AM on a weekday, 8:00 AM on a weekend.
We accept most PPO and HMO dental plans and Medicare Advantage dental plans. The practice has been open since 2025. During office hours, Spanish is spoken here, and parking is on site off Northlake Blvd.
Dental abscess treatment near you in northern Palm Beach County
Our address is 4595 Northlake Blvd Ste 112, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418, on Northlake Blvd a half mile east of Military Trail, near Fire Rescue Station 63. From BallenIsles, BallenIsles Dr to Northlake Blvd and east gets you here in 8 to 12 minutes. From Riviera Beach, take I-95 north one exit to Northlake Blvd, or Old Dixie Hwy north then west on Northlake, about 8 to 12 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Will antibiotics alone fix a dental abscess?
No. Pills can knock the swelling down for a while, yet the pus and the dead nerve stay inside the tooth, and the infection comes back when the pills run out. The abscess has to be drained and the tooth treated or removed. Dial (561) 867-8401 and a same-day time goes in your name.
The bump on my gum popped and the pain stopped. Am I fine now?
The pressure dropped, which is why it feels better. The infection is still there. A gum boil that drains on its own usually refills within days, and each round eats a little more bone around the root. Have it looked at this week, not when it swells again.
Tooth abscess: ER or dentist?
A dentist, unless the swelling is climbing toward the eye or spreading down the neck, a fever has set in, or swallowing and breathing take effort. Those belong in an emergency room first. Hospitals treat the infection; afterward, the tooth behind it still needs us.
Can an abscess come from a toothache I ignored?
Very often, yes. A deep cavity or crack lets bacteria reach the nerve, the nerve dies, and the infection collects at the root tip. The ache may have faded for a few weeks before the swelling arrived. Our toothache relief page explains which kinds of tooth pain lead here.