Dental Abscess Incision and Drainage

To drain a gingival abscess start with local anesthetic. We applied a 4x4 gauze pad soaked in viscous lidocaine for several minutes, followed by an injection of lidocaine with epinephrine. Once adequately anesthetized, make a stab incision and provide suction to the patient. Depending on the amount of bleeding, you may leave a gauze pad over the incision and apply gentle pressure for hemostasis.