Your wisdom teeth are the last set of molars on either side of your lower and upper jaws. They are considered your third molars and are your last teeth to come in. Wisdom teeth often start appearing when you are in your late teens or early 20s. These teeth often become impacted because there isn’t enough room in your mouth for them to come through. In some individuals, the wisdom teeth don’t come in straight. They come in sideways. In other individuals, the wisdom teeth are tilted in the jaw. Every situation is different.
Impacted wisdom teeth tend to be more common than you might think. While they are often painless and don’t cause any problems, there are some individuals who end up dealing with a lot of pain and discomfort from impacted teeth. Impacted teeth can put undue pressure on the surrounding teeth and cause it to become misaligned. This, in turn, will affect your bite and cause your teeth to shift. If the tooth is only partially emerged, it can end up trapping plaque, food and other debris all in the soft tissue surrounding the tooth. Next thing you know, you are dealing with tenderness and inflammation in your gums and a horrible odor in your mouth.
To help you better understand if you are dealing with impacted wisdom teeth, check out some of the common symptoms below.
- Bad Breath – There is no reason why your breath should have an unpleasant odor when you are brushing and flossing like you should, that is unless you just ate a bunch of onions. If your breath still seems to smell awful after just brushing your teeth, it might be because of the impacted tooth causing problems in your mouth and messing up your hygiene routine.
- Trouble Opening Your Mouth – You should be able to open and close your mouth with no problem to eat your meals. If you start struggling just to be able to open your mouth, it could be because of the impacted tooth pulling on your jaw and causing excessive pressure and pain.
- Tenderness or Pain in Your Jaw Bone or Gums – Many people struggle with pain in their gums and jaw bone from the tooth being stuck in an awkward position and not being able to emerge like it should.
- Swelling and Redness in the Gums Surrounding the Impacted Tooth – If the gums are red where your wisdom tooth should be, that is a good sign that the tooth is stuck underneath of the gum line and unable to break through like it should.
- Prolonged Pain in your Jaw or Headaches – Extensive jaw pain and headaches often stems from the excess pressure the impacted tooth puts on your jaw.
- A Visible Gap Where the Tooth Should be – If you have a gap in your mouth where a wisdom tooth should be, there is a good chance that the tooth is stuck underneath of the surface and isn’t able to come in properly.
- Swollen Lymph Nodes
- An Unpleasant Taste When Biting Near or in the Area – If you notice an unpleasant taste in your mouth, that could be from the infection in the impacted tooth.
Anytime you think you might be dealing with an impacted tooth, please visit 1 of our 4 locations to get an idea of what you need to do to correct the problem.