The wisdom teeth, or the third molars, are the last teeth to emerge in the mouth. Around late teens or early 20s, they come out behind your second molars.
But because the jaws are already developed at that age, the wisdom teeth are usually not appropriately accommodated. So, they either emerge at an angle against your cheek or other teeth or never erupt.
When the wisdom tooth does not erupt properly, we call it an impacted tooth. This is where it becomes a problem. Patients often experience dental issues, such as tooth decay and difficulty eating. When left untreated, you can find yourself with a wisdom tooth infection.
About a Wisdom Tooth Infection
An infected wisdom tooth occurs due to bacteria trapped in the gums around the tooth. Because the tooth is located at the far back of the mouth, it may be harder to clean the area. This allows for bacteria to readily accumulate and cause problems.
Here are some of the common signs of a wisdom tooth infection that you should keep an eye out for:
Bad breath
One of the early signs of an infected wisdom tooth is bad breath. As bacteria continue to thrive on your gums underneath the tooth, this will reek of an unpleasant smell. The longer the wisdom tooth stays, making you unable to clean the area, the more problems you may experience.
Severe pain and difficulty in opening the mouth
Pain in the jaw up to the temple is often associated with the wisdom tooth, especially if you are already at the age where it is supposed to come out. This is usually one of the common dental emergencies in the clinic. You may also find it difficult to open and close your mouth and eat because of the extensive pain.
Inflammation of the gums
If you have a gum pad covering your wisdom tooth, the tendency is for you to keep biting on this gum area. This will result in an infection of the gums called pericoronitis. This is extremely painful and
Fever, swelling of the lymph nodes
If you have a painful wisdom tooth and you leave it on its own thinking it will go away, the news flash is that it won’t. A wisdom tooth infection will continue to become widespread if left untreated. This will result in systemic symptoms such as fever.
Facial swelling
And even worse, if the bacteria begin to invade the deeper tissues and areas of your mouth, they will infect the facial spaces to cause severe swelling. This will need hospitalized care to prevent drastic consequences.
Wisdom Tooth Infection Treatment
A wisdom tooth infection would mean a wisdom tooth extraction. This is done to eliminate bacteria and prevent them from affecting other areas of the mouth. You will also be prescribed wisdom tooth infection antibiotics to maintain oral health as the surgery site heals after infection.
But, if the infection has spread to fascial spaces, a visit to the dental emergency clinic is expected. The emergency dentist will drain the infection to remove it and help you recover completely.
Safe and Efficient Wisdom Tooth Infection Removal
At Orange Park Smiles, we want to keep you smiling with dental treatments that relieve you of pain and prevent your oral health problems from worsening.
As soon as you feel like something is wrong with your wisdom tooth, contact our team for an urgent check-up. We also advise that you regularly visit for routine oral check-ups to monitor the emergence of your wisdom tooth.
