How often do dental abscesses appear? For your average person, a dental abscess may only occur once in a lifetime. However, this does not mean that they are not serious and that they cannot occur more often due to bad luck, uneven oral hygiene or any number of factors.

When should I worry about a tooth abscess?

See your dentist promptly if you have any signs or symptoms of a tooth abscess. If you have a fever and swelling in your face and you can't reach your dentist, go to an emergency room. Also go to the emergency room if you have trouble breathing or swallowing.

How common is death from tooth abscess?

A 2013 study published in the Journal of Endodontics looked at 61,000 hospitalizations for abscesses between 2000 and 2008, and found that 66 of those patients – or roughly one in 1,000 – died from the infection.