Dealing with an Impacted Tooth

An impacted tooth is one that is blocked during eruption, or when it is in the process of emerging into your mouth. Out of all the teeth in your mouth, wisdom teeth have the highest risk of being impacted. These teeth may become impacted because of a lack of room in the mouth. Wisdom teeth may also try to emerge sideways or might be tilted in the process of emergence.

An impacted tooth doesn’t have to involve pain. In fact, most of the time people don’t even realize they have an impacted tooth until they begin to feel pain in that side of the face. There may be some pain in the teeth around the impacted tooth. This may happen because of the swelling of the gum flap on the top of the impacted wisdom tooth. This swelling takes pace when the tooth tries to emerge. Sometimes, food debris can collect close to the gum flap causing pericoronitis, an infection which if not treated in time, can spread to the neck or throat. You might also feel pain in the ear on the side where the tooth has been impacted.

How can I tell if I have an impacted tooth?
If you notice a gum swelling especially in the back of the mouth, or have pain or difficulty opening your mouth wide, consult your dentist. There may also be bad breath, an unpleasant taste in the mouth and pain while chewing or biting. This pain can remain for some days, and then vanish only to reappear a few weeks later. If you notice these symptoms, make an appointment with your dentist. Your dentist will take x-rays of your wisdom teeth which will reveal if these teeth are impacted.

Treating an impacted tooth
You can relieve the discomfort that comes with an impacted tooth by washing your mouth with warm salt water. Use an over-the-counter pain relief medication to relieve pain. If the pain is intense or continuous, or the impacted tooth is beginning to cause pain in the adjacent teeth, extraction may be the only method to take care of the problem. Your impacted tooth will be removed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. You may not be allowed to eat for at least 6 hours before the surgery. Let your surgeon and dentist know about any medications you are taking.

The extraction process will depend on the location of the impacted tooth and can last for 5 to 30 minutes. There may be some amount of swelling of the jaw and cheeks after surgery. You may also be advised to avoid certain foods. Your dentist or surgeon will give you instructions for post surgery recovery and these must be followed carefully.

If the tooth doesn’t bother you, you may not need to remove it, but extraction is recommended to prevent future problems. You can even have all 4 wisdom teeth extracted in a single sitting. It's advisable to have wisdom teeth extracted before your 21st birthday. That’s because the healing process of the tissue and bone is much quicker.

Getting impacted wisdom teeth removed is a safe process, and complications are rare.