An extraction may be recommended by your dentist if they believe your wisdom teeth are impacted, causing problems, or haven’t fully emerged yet. This procedure usually occurs quickly in office with local anesthetic.
Once surgery has taken place, it is common to experience a dull ache in your gums or jaw and an unpleasant taste in your mouth (dry socket). Here are some home remedies to ease this discomfort:.
Toothache
Toothache may be caused by any number of issues, including tooth decay (dental caries), gum disease or pressure from wisdom teeth. Loss of fillings and cracked/chipped teeth are other possible sources of discomfort that could give rise to discomfort; pain from any source could linger for hours after taking its initial effect; sometimes this pain even seems like its coming from somewhere deep within your sinuses, where air-filled cavities lie behind cheekbones and foreheads.
Wisdom teeth, or third molars, typically emerge between 17-25. Wisdom teeth can cause oral health issues and should usually be extracted early – this can often be accomplished with local anesthetic administered at your dentist’s office.
Wisdom tooth issues typically stem from insufficient space in the mouth for them to erupt properly and become stuck or “impacted” (trapped). Left untreated, these trapped or impacted wisdom teeth may lead to complications including:
When wisdom teeth become painful or cause complications, removal should be conducted by either a dentist or oral surgeon. Before surgery begins, all surrounding tissue will be numbed with local anesthesia such as nitrous oxide – commonly referred to as “laughing gas” – or oral sedative such as Valium.
Before extracting an impacted wisdom tooth, your dental professional will likely take some X-rays of its roots and check for cysts or any growths present. An oral surgeon then removes either whole or pieces of the impacted wisdom tooth – often without you even realizing due to anesthesia used during surgery.
After surgery, the area surrounding your incision will swell for several days, but applying a cold compress to it will help minimize this swelling and reduce pain with medications such as ibuprofen, naproxen or acetaminophen available over-the-counter. Rinsing with warm salt water may also provide comfort while helping eliminate bacteria build-up in your mouth.
Bad Breath
Halitosis, or bad breath, is usually caused by food particles being broken down in your mouth by bacteria living there, which emit foul-smelling gases when they decay. Brushing regularly with fluoride toothpaste and flossing help reduce food residue that contributes to bad breath; eating spicy or garlicky foods (garlic, onions etc) or smoking or chewing tobacco products such as cigarettes can exacerbate it even further.
An unpleasant odor in the mouth may be a telltale sign of gum disease, caused by bacteria that attach to teeth and produce toxins. Poor digestion, constipation and bowel disorders may also result in persistent bad smells from within, while acid reflux allowing stomach acid to travel back up the oesophagus into the mouth can result in unpleasant halitosis symptoms for some individuals. Furthermore, other respiratory conditions like pneumonia, bronchitis or aspiration pneumonia (inhaling of saliva into their lungs) may produce noticeable mouth odours from within: pneumonia (aspiration), constipation or constipation (innervator odor).
If halitosis persists, have someone close to you check your breath regularly. If wisdom tooth-related causes appear likely, having your dentist examine your mouth can rule out dental problems as possible culprits and may use high-speed handpiece to drill through bone covering an impacted wisdom tooth and extract it safely.
If dental issues aren’t the source of bad breath, visiting your family GP or medical specialist is likely the next best step for finding its source. They will perform an in-depth exam of both mouth and lungs to pinpoint its exact origins – 5-10% of bad odour cases have health-related causes; your dentist should first rule out dental infections as the source before referring you for further medical testing – saving both time and money and potentially heartache! Persistent bad odor is a common problem but easily avoidable with regular brushing/flossing/good oral hygiene habits as well as cutting down on foods which cause it.
Swelling
Wisdom teeth often struggle to erupt normally and this can result in pericoronitis – an uncomfortable condition where swelling allows bacteria to thrive and lead to infections in the soft tissue around a tooth. If this happens to you, seek medical advice immediately as this could indicate that third molars are misaligning and require removal.
Under primitive conditions, our ancestors relied upon extra molars to chew fibrous and tough foods; but today our diet is far less demanding, reducing the need for wisdom teeth to emerge. In turn, this has resulted in many becoming either partially or wholly impacted or partially erupted – sometimes creating painful complications such as an abscess around them that damage jawbone or other teeth; partially erupted wisdom teeth may be difficult to clean, potentially leading to gum disease and other health complications.
An early indication of wisdom tooth problems is swollen jaw and cheek areas. Sometimes the pain and swelling are caused by food pieces becoming lodged within partially-erupted wisdom teeth; your dentist may suggest using mouthwash or warm salt water rinses to flush away lodged food particles and alleviate pain while warding off infection in your gums.
Clove oil can help soothe swollen wisdom tooth discomfort with its natural anesthetic and antibacterial properties, helping numb the area while simultaneously keeping it free of infections. Dab some on a cotton ball and apply directly on gums surrounding wisdom tooth that’s causing issues. Clove oil also contains anti-infective properties which will keep infection away.
If the wisdom tooth in question is an impacted one, your dentist may be able to widen its socket by rocking it back and forth; this procedure typically occurs under local anesthetic injections in office. If it becomes severely infected, however, then surgery will likely be required; post-op soreness and swelling should subside within several days after extraction; pain relievers such as Tylenol may help.
Infection
Wisdom tooth infections can produce a wide range of symptoms and be a serious dental condition that necessitates surgery. One of the main indicators of infection is painful swelling in the back of your mouth and jaw; other indicators could include bad taste in your mouth, swollen lymph nodes in your neck area and difficulty opening your jaw (trismus). Furthermore, wisdom tooth infections have even been linked with other medical issues, including fever and chills.
Wisdom teeth may become impacted when there is insufficient space available in the gums for their full development, leading them to get stuck inside gum tissue or crowd neighbouring teeth (known as tooth crowding). Impacted wisdom teeth can cause food particles to get caught between their roots, leading to decay and an abundance of bacteria accumulation; which in turn could result in pericoronitis infection of the gums.
When an wisdom tooth becomes impacted, soft tissue forms around it – an operculum. This flap of tissue covers part of the tooth crown and can trap bacteria or food particles and lead to an infection; pericoronitis typically affects people aged 20-29 years.
An untreated tooth infection can quickly spread to surrounding teeth, bones and tissues in the mouth – eventually entering into your bloodstream and creating systemic infections. Regular visits to the dentist, good oral hygiene practices and scheduled checkups can all help to minimize infections in your system.
Symptoms of infection, including pain in the back of your mouth or jaw, foul breath or swollen lymph nodes in the neck should prompt immediate contact with a dentist for an exam and cleaning or removal of any wisdom teeth that may be impactful to preventing infection.
Visit your dentist regularly during adolescence for regular checkups and cleanings to reduce the risk of wisdom tooth complications, especially during an exam to monitor their development and take X-rays of your area to detect if any wisdom teeth have impacted or started coming in at an awkward angle, enabling them to suggest treatment such as cleaning or extraction before problems develop.
