How Dentists Fix A Dental Abscess Wisdom Tooth

A dental abscess wisdom tooth can be a nasty thing. We look at everything related to a wisdom tooth dental abscess such as why it forms, who can treat it, how is it treated, and how to take care of the dental abscess afterward.

What is a wisdom tooth dental abscess?

A dental abscess wisdom tooth is also known as a third molar with an infection on the side or the bottom of the tooth depending on what is causing the abscess.

A wisdom tooth dental abscess can present in a few different ways such as a bump on the side of the wisdom tooth, drainage of yellow or pink color around the wisdom tooth, extremely biting pain around the wisdom tooth, and jaw pain going all the way to the ear when related to the wisdom tooth. More on dental abscesses can be seen on Wikem Dental abscesses here.

Why Does A Dental Abscess Wisdom Tooth Form?

Dental abscesses form mainly because of poor positioning of the wisdom teeth far back in the mouth making it impossible to clean correctly.

This leads to food and bacteria getting stuck around the wisdom tooth and cavities forming in the wisdom tooth. Once a cavity gets into the nerve of the wisdom tooth it can cause the tooth to form a dental abscess.

Gum issues around those wisdom teeth also form after a while because of all the bacteria building up which destroys the bone around the wisdom teeth and leads to a dental abscess.

This wisdom tooth dental abscess often eats bone around the tooth away and causes extreme jaw and ear pain which is associated with the wisdom teeth abscess.

Who Can Treat A Wisdom Tooth Dental Abscess?

When it comes to a dental abscess wisdom tooth it’s best to visit your dentist to take care of it. Often enough your dentist can remove the infected wisdom tooth which has a dental abscess attached to it.

If the wisdom tooth is in a very unfavorable position in the jaw such as near a nerve or in the sinus then your dentist may refer you to a oral surgeon to get the wisdom tooth removed.

How Are Wisdom Tooth Dental Abscesses Treated?

Often enough x-rays are taken by your dentist or oral surgeon allowing them to view the position of the tooth in the jaw.

Once the position of the tooth can be seen it can be decided to do a root canal on the wisdom tooth or remove the wisdom tooth. Most wisdom teeth are however removed due to all the problems they cause in the mouth.

Before the removal of a dental abscess wisdom tooth, the dentist or oral surgeon may require you to be on a course of antibiotics and pain killers but if the infection is bad enough it may be necessary to remove the wisdom tooth straight away.

If the wisdom tooth is sitting in an unfavorable position in the jaw it may be split up into pieces to remove piece by piece or could be removed as a whole tooth.

Once the wisdom tooth has been removed then the wisdom tooth dental abscess can be cleaned out using debridement techniques and can be closed up with the use of dental sutures.

What Does A Dental Abscess After Extraction Feel Like?

Once the wisdom tooth has been removed from the mouth, it may feel very numb due to all the local anesthetic used to numb the area for wisdom tooth extraction.

Once all the numbness wears off there is often relief felt in the area of the dental abscess after extraction because all the pressure is then gone.

There may still be an infection of the bone in the area which may require advice from your dentist or oral surgeon on how to clear it up.

Is It Necessary To Go To The Emergency Room For Dental Abscess?

A dental abscess can be a pretty dangerous infection if not sorted out. Often enough it could be life-threatening, especially in cases where the infection spreads to the eye or under the tongue near the throat region as this can cause major issues and requires emergency room treatment when it comes to dental abscesses.

Need A Dentist Near You To Help With Wisdom Tooth Extraction?

Dr Gray is a dentist based in Durban South Africa who has a post-graduate in prosthodontics and has done many courses in dentistry when it comes to the removal of wisdom teeth. We have the latest technology scanner at our clinic allowing for wisdom teeth diagnosis and wisdom teeth removal planning so if something is too difficult it can be sent to one of our oral surgeons for removal.