It is not a secret that wisdom teeth can bring with them a very painful experience. These obnoxious teeth make their grand entrance at the back of the mouth. Many patients have four of these troublemakers, some have only two, and a few lucky ones don’t ever have to deal with any.
Wisdom teeth can cause an incredible amount of pain and disruption in the mouth. Some of the issues that are responsible for these painful moments are:
- Eruption – when the tooth is coming in
- Impaction – when the tooth is not properly aligned during eruption and begins to push on the adjacent tooth
- Decay – a very common occurrence in wisdom teeth as they are hard to reach during regular tooth brushing and flossing
- Infection – caused by impaction or decay
These situations can cause pain in the jaw and gum. Sometimes, these pains can even take the form of headaches. There are a few ways to manage the pain. These include medications such as ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatories, as well as tylenol. However, these are not long-term solutions.
Some patients opt for home-remedies such as rinsing the mouth with salt water and using clove oil. These are good ways to relieve the pain short-term but might not offer much when it comes to long-term relief.
In the common case that the pain is ongoing, it can usually be linked back to one of the issues mentioned above. The best way to resolve the situation once and for all is to extract the wisdom tooth or teeth that are guilty of this negative experience. We wanted to equip you with information on when you should consider removing your wisdom teeth to begin to live pain-free again.
Infections
Mouthwashes have the ability to prevent gum diseases such as gingivitis. This is especially true when used routinely. You can thank the antibacterial properties of the substance for this. The antibacterial properties in mouthwash fight off the build-up plaque that often sticks to the gums and eventually turn into diseases or infections.
Formation of Cysts
Impaction is not an uncommon occurrence when it comes to wisdom teeth. This event can often be linked to cyst formation. Cysts are small fluid-filled sacs inside the jawbone. When left untreated, they can expand rapidly and cause serious damage to the roots of teeth nearby. They even have the ability to destroy the adjacent bone. Unfortunately, cysts are very difficult to treat if the wisdom teeth are not removed early on during adolescence. This is one of the main reasons for patients to be proactive with wisdom tooth extraction.
Damage to Nearby Teeth
Wisdom teeth can cause other teeth to move in order to make space for their arrival. This can be visible to the eye in the form of crowding. A crowded smile is much more difficult to keep clean through brushing and flossing than a spaced out one. This new challenge enables gunk to stay hidden in hard to reach areas and often cause gum diseases, tooth decay, and bone loss. In this case, removing the wisdom tooth before it arrives is the best solution.
Removing wisdom teeth during adolescence is possibly the best alternative to avoiding all of these complications and aches. It is recommended that teenagers have their wisdom teeth extracted between the ages of 16 and 19. During this time, the wisdom teeth have undeveloped roots and are less likely to cause complications. The recovery time is also much quicker and easy. However, our team is able to remove wisdom teeth at any stage in life. If you are suffering from pain from your wisdom tooth or want to avoid future complications, please contact our team as soon as possible to book an appointment.
