With age comes wisdom and understanding, but for kids entering their late teens and early adulthood years, time also brings wisdom teeth, potentially disrupting their smile and causing them significant pain. How can another set of teeth hurt so much and trouble your smile? What options do you have to get rid of them? Keep reading to become wiser about wisdom teeth pain!
Causes of Wisdom Tooth Pain
Unfortunately, it happens all too often that a wisdom tooth develops at an unhealthy angle, which means it presses up against other teeth. This type is called an impacted wisdom tooth. As the third molar tries to erupt, it can simultaneously push your other teeth out of alignment, which can cause soreness and pain in and of itself. Another potential outcome of impacted wisdom teeth is that bacteria can become more easily trapped in crevices, increasing the risk of infection and painful decay.
Remedies for Wisdom Tooth Pain
When you hurt, time slows down to a glacial pace, but with these remedies, you can carry on for a short time until you meet with your dentist:
- Take over-the-counter pain reliever as directed. This can reduce your discomfort.
- Have ice chips and put them over your gums to manage swelling and numb pain.
- Swish salt water (consisting of 8 ounces of water and 2 teaspoons of salt) to control oral bacteria, keep the area clean, and rinse away food debris.
Keep in mind that these remedies are temporary aids to relieve your pain until you can get treatment from your dentist. You likely won’t be able to manage your wisdom teeth—as well as the pain—on your own forever.
Treatment for Wisdom Tooth Pain
In most situations, other than ones where the patient has a medical condition holding them back from surgery, if you feel pain as a result of your wisdom teeth, it means they should come out through an extraction. Often, it requires going underneath the gum surface surgically to remove the tooth. In certain cases, it must be broken apart to make extraction easier and even possible. Afterward, the opening in the gums is closed either with dissolvable stitches or sutures.
Now that you know more about wisdom tooth pain’s causes and possible remedies, you can take measures to feel better at home until you can see your dentist. Don’t wait too long and suffer in silence if your wisdom teeth hurt. Make sure you resolve the problem with your dentist and have them extracted if necessary.
About the Practice
Amherst Dental Group in Williamsville doesn’t take patient pain lightly. We make every effort to relieve your pain as quickly and effectively as possible. In addition to local anesthetic, which should numb the extraction site and surrounding tissues, we offer sedation options that can calm your nerves and ease your anxiety about extraction. Do you have wisdom teeth that have given you trouble and pain? Reclaim your smile and have a more pleasant experience with our team of experienced dentists by contacting us online or calling us at 716-689-8882 to schedule an appointment.