When to Seek Dental Care for Wisdom Teeth

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Introduction

I have not yet seen or met any person who had a major toothache that did not think it was the most unbearable pain ever. An impacted wisdom tooth also tops the pain scales.

And being that wisdom teeth often cause problems, I would like to talk about them specifically in this article, including sharing my own story. But don’t get me wrong, I am not saying other teeth can be disregarded, on the contrary.

I can say I belong to that very small group of people who did not have problems with their teeth earlier in life. As a young boy, I had a set of very healthy teeth. It must be hereditary I thought since as far as I knew, both my parents never went to a dentist.

I was soon to be proven wrong when I learned that heredity may not have anything to do with that when I started to have dental problems after I left my home country to study in Europe.

Here’s my personal story and my recommendations to you so you can avoid the pain and struggles I endured with my wisdom teeth.

I learned the hard way that wisdom teeth can be a dental emergency.

My First Dental Issue Was With Wisdom Teeth

It happened at age 22. I had swollen gum and the pain was so unbearable that I was unable to eat. I have never had any kind of dental problems before and no pain I had previously could compare with this one. This was a state of emergency for me. I had no option but to rush myself to see a general practitioner who then referred me to a dentist.

The diagnosis was that I had a wisdom tooth trying to emerge and some things in my jawbone and my gum were preventing a normal growth of the tooth. One of the most common problems is what is called impacted wisdom teeth. This is when the wisdom teeth have not developed properly and can remain buried inside the gum and as such can cause pain for the person.

Thankfully, he gave me some medication to relieve the pain and suggested I keep monitoring the growth. If complication occurred I should come back to him without hesitation in order for him to determine whether a wisdom teeth removal procedure would be necessary or not.

This experience was a nightmare for me. I would later realize that dental health is something I should never take for granted. I learned that the hard way. Today, I am still battling with dental problems. Don’t be me!

When to Seek Treatment for Wisdom Teeth

You should seek treatment for your wisdom teeth if you are experiencing any of the following, especially an impacted wisdom tooth.

Impacted Wisdom Teeth

Impacted wisdom teeth will need treatment from a dentist. It is rare that an impacted wisdom tooth doesn’t require extraction. When wisdom teeth are impacted they do not have enough space to emerge from the gums and develop naturally.

Symptoms of an Impacted wisdom teeth include:

Swollen, tender or bleeding gums
Jaw pain
Swelling or stiffness in the jaw
Difficulty opening the mouth
Nasty breath

Other Common Dental Issues Requiring Immediate Treatment

Besides an impacted wisdom tooth or other tooth problem causing severe jaw pain that prevents you from eating or otherwise functioning normally, here are some common tooth related injuries that are definitely going to require immediate dental treatment.

Tooth Knocked Out

As kids, one of the most common issues that can cause dental pain is when a tooth is knocked out. We all know that some kids are very restless and hyper active. They just keep running up and down not paying attention to all the dangers that may occur.

While they are just having fun and showing signs of being healthy, a single slip up and the child falls or hits his head against a hard surface. While the mouth may just be the part that hit the hard surface. The result is blood coming out of the child’s mouth. A tooth or more has just been knocked out by hard force. This can be extremely painful and the consequences may be even greater.

The same goes for us adults. Accidents happen to the best of us. Whether you get an elbow to the face while playing ball with your friends at the court, or do an endo over your handlebars mountain biking the trails, shit happens to our teeth.

Unlike a wisdom tooth which comes in slowly, if a tooth has been knocked out from trauma, the only thing to do is to go to a dentist immediately.

It is also advised to take along the knocked out tooth. In some cases it can be put back into your body but typically this isn’t successful and you’ll need a false tooth. Best to bring the tooth just in case.

Tooth Fracture

As I mentioned above under the first dental issue with wisdom teeth, I had other dental problems as well and one of those has to do with fractured teeth. I am by no means keen on remembering what I went through. I remember drinking something when a searing pain tore through my teeth and gum and everything in my mouth. Tears came to my eyes not because I was crying but because of the pain.

Unfortunately for me, the pain did not go away as I thought it would and before I knew it, my mouth became swollen. I went to the dentists only to discover that it was about a fractured tooth. One of my premolars was fractured for some reasons.

I found out from a wisdom teeth removal specialist in a Houston dental clinic that fractures may occur due to a number of factors which include drinking certain drinks or eating certain foods.

He also mentioned a couple of other causes, but all in all, the major cause was not maintaining proper dental health. Frequent visits to dentists may also serve to prevent and avert dental fractures.