When your wisdom teeth start to come in and get impacted, they can cause some real dental health issues. These teeth served a purpose in our forebears, but now that our diets are mainly composed of soft foods, we don't use or wear out the second molars as our ancestors did. Wisdom teeth used to replace worn-down second molars, according to the website WisdomTeethPain, but this is no longer the case.
Identification
The wisdom teeth that erupt in your mouth in early adulthood are known as the "third molars." These teeth had a useful function when ancient man had to eat much harder foods. Today these teeth erupt and may not always fully emerge.
Reasons for the failure to completely emerge include lack of room in the jaw. When this happens, the wisdom teeth can bump up against the second molars, causing jaw pain. Such contact can also force the teeth to move and become crowded.
Significance
When you feel pain at the back of your jaw, your dentist wants to see what is causing the problem. She'll take x-rays of your mouth and look at the placement of your teeth to determine if you have developed erupting or impacted wisdom teeth.
In some dental patients, impacted wisdom teeth have pinched nerves in the jaw, which can cause even more jaw pain, according to WisdomTeethPain.
Food and bacteria can collect in the pockets around your wisdom teeth, causing tooth decay. The pain you feel as your wisdom teeth erupt and/or become impacted alerts you and your dentist to a potential problem.
Considerations
When wisdom teeth begin to erupt and become impacted, they can cause fluid-filled sacs to form around them. These sacs or cysts can cause an infection and lead to further damage of the jawbone and soft tissue of the jaw, according to Ayurvedic Cure.
Prevention/Solution
If you experience jaw pain from erupting or impacted wisdom teeth, you can use one of several painkillers. These include aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
If mild jaw pain persists, rinsing with a warm saltwater rinse can offer some relief, according to WisdomTeethPain. Drinking cold--but not ice-cold--water can help decrease the level of pain. Chewing sugarless gum helps to massage the gums, offering another option for pain relief. You can also use a topical numbing gel to obtain some pain relief for at least half an hour.
Treatments
Treatments for erupting wisdom teeth that are causing dental issues include the above-mentioned over the counter treatments, as well as antibiotics in the case of an infection and surgical removal.
In cases where a pocket of pus has developed, causing an infection, the dentist prescribes an antibiotic for you to take.
When your wisdom teeth have started to cause other issues--cysts, severe pain, gum disease, tooth decay and infection--the dentist opts for surgical extraction, according to the Pearl Dental Clinic. Some patients have two teeth removed in one surgery, then return to have the remaining two wisdom teeth removed in a later surgery. Others have all four removed at the same time.
