How Wisdom Teeth Emergence Can Lead To Dental Abscesses

There are many ways in which gaining wisdom can be a difficult process, but while the academic or life lessons take time, hard study and experience, the dental sort can be pure pain, and the suffering can be made even worse by abscesses.

It is not meant to be so, of course. There is a reason we have these four molars that emerge at the back of our mouths in early adulthood; for most of human history, they were very useful as our food was tougher and we needed to chew more. This, in turn, meant our jaws were a bit bigger, so they would be more easily accommodated.

As well as being a useful way of adding a bit of chewing power, they could also add an extra molar in case one or more had been lost in earlier life, with this also freeing up more space for them.

Modern Lifestyles Make Wisdom Teeth A Liability

However, just as modern lifestyles and diet can make our waistlines larger than they were designed to be, so our jaws are smaller and tooth loss less frequent, which means that when wisdom teeth start to emerge in early adulthood, often there is insufficient room to accommodate them comfortably.

Despite this, some people do get lucky and their wisdom teeth emerge without drama or pain and can fit snugly in at the back. However, the majority of people have trouble with at least one tooth and some unfortunate people can end up with all four having to be removed.

This, of course, is a dental matter and here we end up with the same common problem faced by so many people, as limited access to dentistry means a longer wait and more pain.

How Wisdom Tooth Issues Can Lead To Abscesses

Even without this, there is the fact that many wisdom teeth require extraction under general anaesthetic in hospital, especially when all four have to go. That means going on a waiting list, which can mean months of pain until they can finally be taken out.

A toothache is not the only potential issue. Abscesses can easily arise from wisdom teeth, adding a new issue and one for which you may need to buy amoxicillin to treat the infection while you wait for the extraction.

This is a very common problem, for when a wisdom tooth emerges and is unable to emerge above the gum line (what dentists call impaction), this can cause swelling and infection in the gum area. Add in the typical oral bacteria and it is little surprise when this leads to an abscess.

Kinds Of Abscess

You can suffer three different kinds of dental abscesses and all of these might occur when the problem relates to a wisdom tooth.  

Because an impacted wisdom tooth can involve the whole tooth being unable to emerge above the gum line, a pericoronal abscess is a major risk. This is where a flap of gum may grow over the tooth, trapping bacteria with it.

Periodontal abscesses, often known as gum abscesses, come from gum disease and any trauma to the gums can allow extra opportunities for bacteria to get in. These abscesses can sometimes form away from the tooth. Nonetheless, a troublesome wisdom tooth could cause persistent damage to the gums to make this more likely.

The third kind is a periapical tooth abscess, which is where the abscess forms at the base of the root. When a tooth is impacted, this may be the later stage of infection, having first spread down from areas that the initial infection was able to reach. Therefore, it is less of a risk from wisdom tooth problems than a pericoronal or periodontal abscess.

A Sideways Problem

However, this sort of problem can also arise because some wisdom teeth do emerge, but, due to the lack of room, come out sideways or at an angle, making them more prone to catching bits of food and the attached bacteria, leading to faster decay and therefore a greater risk of an abscess.

Indeed, in some cases, this sideways-growing tooth can end up in almost constant contact with the inside of your cheek, meaning that it is prone to additional bacterial exposure 24/7.

This makes keeping the area clean more important, but also means even small periods of time (between a meal and tooth brushing, for example) with bacteria exposure can take their toll and cause tooth decay.

While the prime cause of abscesses is poor dental hygiene, the issue is bound to be made more severe when the wisdom tooth is causing some trauma to the gums.

In short, a wisdom tooth greatly increases the chances of an abscess occurring, meaning that you need to be extra vigilant with your dental hygiene.

However, if you are reading this and you have reached the point where there is already an abscess or suspected abscess in place, it may be too late for that. Moreover, it can be understandable if you are struggling to brush vigorously in areas of the mouth that have become very sore.

Know The Abscess Symptoms

Although most people need at least one wisdom tooth extracted, many do at least have the fortune not to get an infection that leads to an abscess. Even then, the tightness of cramming an extra tooth into a jaw that is already full is a very painful experience.

That does mean you might, for a time at least, mistake your abscess for a general toothache. That is why it is important to recognise the symptoms of an abscess.

Among these can be a bad odour and nasty taste, swollen gums, pain when you bite down on food, jaw pain and the tell-tale sign of a pocket of pus on your gums, this being a periodontal abscess. In more severe cases, you may have facial swelling, difficulty swallowing and fever.

If you think you have a dental abscess, you should contact us for an online assessment. Any abscess, if left untreated, can lead to dire consequences such as life-threatening sepsis. This can be true of a dental abscess, whether it is related to a wisdom tooth or another issue.

Because of this danger from infection, nobody with wisdom tooth pain caused by an abscess should just rely on painkillers. While these may be necessary and helpful, an abscess needs antibiotic treatment as well, until such time as the necessary dental surgery can take place to extract the tooth and drain the abscess as well.