Are tooth abscesses hard to touch?

Can be: If you mean "are they hard to the touch", answer is sometimes. An abscess is infection in bone, gums or both. As pressure builds from within, overlying gums may feel firm from the tension. It may then become "fluctuant", feeling fluid filled, and may then "deflate" as a weak spot in gums allows the infection to drain. There are instances when the "hard abscess" is just a prominence of bone.

Tooth abcess: Hard for a dentist to touch or you? If an abscess is draining than there is usually no or little pain. If not its building up pressure and can be painful. It depends on the case weather or not a dentist will do treatment on an abscess or wait until antibiotics localize it. See a dentist for treatment and evaluation asap.

Normally yes. : A tooth infection normally grows inside the bone so the swelling to the touch may feel hard but sometimes the infection is gum related and than it would feel soft. A fistula tract which is a drainage from an infected tooth may also feel soft.

Hard to touch?: If you are asking if an abscess is painful to touch, I would say that in most times yes, there is quite a bit of pain with that. If you are asking if a dental abscess is hard, like firm, I would say no. Dental abscesses, when advanced, are fluid filled. As a result abscesses are soft and depressable.

Tooth abscesses: The tooth abscess is usually deep tin the bone and when it appears at the surface may be "hard" or "soft". Early abscesses from a dying nerve in a tooth may be firm, hot, hard, and painful. Later, the abscess may "soften", with a fluid filled cavity which may drain on its own, implying it "healed". However, without care the destructive process will progress with further loss of bone and the tooth

Dental abscess: The main symptom of a dental abscess is a severe, throbbing pain, while touching or biting. This infection will not resolve on its own. The most common type of dental abscess is a tooth infection. In order to get appropriate treatment it is important to know the underlying cause for this infection. For pain relieve use NSAIDs OTC. See your dentist for evaluation, x-rays and treatment.