Impacted Wisdom Teeth Symptoms

What is an impacted wisdom tooth? What are the problems associated with impacted teeth? What are the impacted wisdom teeth symptoms? If these are the questions lurking in your mind, you are lucky to visit this page! Impacted wisdom teeth problems are quite common. Although they are painless and cause no serious trouble, impacted wisdom teeth can lead to other problems like misalignment of the bite, inflammation or a condition known as pericoronitis.

Impacted Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth, or the third molars, as they are known in medical terms, are the last set of teeth to erupt through the gums in our mouth. They usually come when the person is between 17 to 25 years of age. As this age period is also known as 'Age of Wisdom', this set of teeth is referred to as 'wisdom teeth'.

An impacted tooth is actually the tooth that fails to break through the gums and emerges only partially. This generally happens when there is not enough space for the wisdom tooth to emerge. It gets stuck against the tooth that is present in front of it. Sometimes, an overlying gum may also be responsible for the tooth to be impacted as it gets stuck in the gum tissue. The teeth may become twisted, tilted or displaced as they try to emerge. Healthy and properly positioned wisdom teeth cause no problem while emerging and can easily break through the gums and come out completely.

Symptoms
Impacted wisdom teeth are not always accompanied by symptoms, and are absolutely painless. They cause no apparent trouble even when they are stuck. A little bit of pain and discomfort may follow, which is bearable and temporary, and will disappear in a few days. However, in some cases, an impacted wisdom tooth may cause trouble, so serious, that it has to be removed. Partially emerged wisdom tooth may result in trapping of food, debris and plaque in the soft tissue around it, causing infections and tenderness of gums and tooth decay. Impacted wisdom teeth pain in such cases is unbearable and needs immediate treatment. Some of the commonly seen impacted wisdom tooth symptoms are as follows:

• Bad breath
• Unpleasant taste
• Pain in the jawbone
• Visible gap in place of the tooth that has not emerged
• Tenderness in the gums
• Redness or swelling in the gums and area around the impacted tooth
• Difficulty in opening the mouth
• Prolonged headache
• Swollen lymph nodes (occasionally)

Gum in the surrounding area are prone to inflammation, and the infection may spread to the adjacent teeth or roots. Sometimes, it may happen that the sac, that surrounds the impacted tooth, gets filled with fluid. When a lot of fluid gets trapped in the sac, it may enlarge and form a cyst. The cyst may damage the adjacent teeth, nerves and bones and may even hollow out the jaw, as it grows. If this condition is left untreated, a tumor may develop from the walls, and may leave only the option of surgical removal.

Treatment
People generally go in for over-the-counter painkillers to ease the pain and swelling associated with the impacted wisdom tooth. Mouth washes prescribed by your dentist, may soothe your gums and may also help for the problem of bad breath. However, the most common and probably the best treatment for impacted wisdom tooth is extraction of the tooth. It is a simple procedure, usually done by the dentist, but certain serious cases may require an oral surgeon for wisdom teeth removal. In case of serious wisdom teeth infection, antibiotics may be prescribed before the tooth extraction procedure.

If you see any of the impacted wisdom teeth symptoms mentioned above, immediately consult your dentist and get it treated. Hope you found the above information helpful! Take care!