Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Wisdom Tooth Pain While Taking Painkillers! Real Cases of Neglect🔍 / Gangnam Leong Dental Clinic

Hello, this is Gangnam Leong Dental Clinic😊

Did you have a good Lunar New Year holiday?

How do days off fly by so quickly😢

The intense cold has continued this week, so please be careful on icy roads and take good care of yourself so you don’t catch a cold.

Today, I’d like to write about wisdom tooth pain.

Before wisdom tooth extraction, some people have no particular symptoms and can undergo the procedure without any problems, but many cases involve people who ignore their wisdom teeth, develop pain and come in for extraction, or discover inflammation only after putting off the pain, then need follow-up treatment after extraction as well.

Why do wisdom teeth hurt so much?

Why does wisdom tooth pain occur?

In most cases, wisdom teeth erupt without enough space in the mouth, which makes them more likely to cause pain and inflammation.

If you feel pain in a wisdom tooth, it may be due to the following reasons.

✅ Abnormal eruption

If it erupts crookedly instead of in the correct direction or grows sideways, pain can occur.

✅ Partial eruption

If the wisdom tooth grows through the gum but then stops because of the surrounding teeth and gums, it can irritate nearby tissues and cause pain.

✅ Inflammation around the wisdom tooth

If inflammation develops in the surrounding gums because of abnormal eruption or partial eruption, the gums may swell and pain may occur.

✅ Cavities and infection

Because it is located at the very back of the mouth, it is difficult to brush properly, so cavities can form easily and may lead to infection and pain.

✅ Pressure on the jawbone

As the wisdom tooth erupts, it may push against nearby teeth or the jawbone, causing pain.

What happens if you ignore wisdom tooth pain?

If you endure this pain while taking medicine and leave it untreated, what could happen?

✅ Severe gum inflammation (periodontitis)

Inflammation around the wisdom tooth worsens, pus may accumulate, or severe pain may occur, and if this continues, the gum bone may also become infected.

✅ Damage to nearby teeth

The wisdom tooth may press on or compress nearby teeth, causing the roots and gum bone of adjacent teeth to resorb.

✅ Changes in tooth alignment

As the wisdom tooth pushes nearby teeth, the alignment of the teeth can become distorted, and in severe cases, orthodontic treatment may be needed.

Periodontitis develops

When should a wisdom tooth be removed?

Then do wisdom teeth always need to be extracted?

No!

If they grow properly and are well maintained, there is no need to remove them.

Properly erupted wisdom teeth

However, in the following cases, it is better to remove them in advance before pain develops, which can help prevent the symptoms explained above!

✅ Impacted wisdom tooth

If an X-ray shows that the wisdom tooth is not coming out straight and is impacted, extraction is recommended. Impacted wisdom teeth are more likely to cause inflammation as time passes.

✅ Interfering with tooth alignment

If there is a risk that the wisdom tooth will push neighboring teeth or cause them to shift as it grows, it is better to consider early extraction.

✅ Inflammation/cysts around the wisdom tooth

If a dental exam reveals a cyst or inflammation around the wisdom tooth, immediate treatment is necessary.

✅ Wisdom tooth cavities

If a cavity has formed in the wisdom tooth, it means it is not being well maintained because of its position, so extraction is recommended.

Wisdom tooth pain neglect case

The following is a real case in which wisdom tooth pain was neglected and extraction was performed later.

#CASE

After ignoring wisdom tooth pain

Loss of gum bone

This patient had been experiencing persistent pain around the wisdom tooth, but because they were busy with work, they endured it while taking medicine, and only later underwent extraction because of severe pain.

After checking the condition, we found that inflammation around the neglected wisdom tooth had caused the gum bone of the adjacent molar to be lost, leaving the root unable to support it, so the tooth was loose.

Red: wisdom tooth / Blue: molar / Red line: lost gum tissue

On the surface, it looked like only an early cavity had developed, so we wanted to preserve it as much as possible by performing root canal treatment, but we decided to extract the adjacent molar together with the wisdom tooth, and then perform a bone graft and implant for the molar.

In fact, checking the condition before wisdom tooth pain develops and making an extraction plan is only possible with regular checkups.

It would be a good idea to get a regular checkup once every 6 months, but if that is difficult, how about at least once a year when you visit the dentist to receive the annual insurance-covered scaling benefit?

If you have any questions about wisdom tooth extraction, please contact us! We’ll kindly answer them😀

Gangnam Leong Dental Clinic has started Sunday treatment!

Visit Gangnam Leong Dental Clinic, where weekend treatment is available, and protect your oral health!😁

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