Tag Archives: gum swelling from infection

Emergency Dentist

Should my son see an emergency dentist for his wisdom teeth?

I am concerned that my son needs to visit an emergency dentist. His wisdom teeth have been causing him a great deal of pain for the last several days. They are even preventing him from eating. I encouraged him to make an appointment with an emergency dentist, but he didn’t see the need, stating that it happens sometimes. He did let me take a quick glance. While I couldn’t see the tooth, I did notice the gums are swollen up around the tooth. He is convinced this is completely normal and the tooth just hasn’t pushed all the way through yet. Is this something you see often? Or, should I continue to encourage him to see an emergency dentist?

Thank you,
Kristi

Dear Kristi,
Everyone is different. Some people have wisdom teeth break through later in life, while others never get them, or need them to be extracted. The most important piece to this is how the wisdom teeth come in and the amount of space around them. These teeth can cause problems because there is little room for them. They force other teeth out of the way and move everything. It is difficult to clean these teeth, not only because of the cramped space, but because the gums are still covering some of the wisdom teeth. Infections and tooth decay can occur when the gums lift up enough for food and bacteria to enter and become trapped.

Wisdom teeth can also cause pain in other, more typical, ways. Sometimes, when they push the surrounding teeth out of the way, that can cause those teeth to hurt, though sometimes the pain is just in one area. Yet other times, the pain stays in one area. They can also cause sinus, jaw, and ear pain. A general dentist would probably suggest the teeth be taken out. However, because you are noticing swollen gums, it could be a symptom of an infection. In addition, if the pain is so intense that it is preventing eating, there is certainly a problem. Both of these symptoms yield a reason to see an emergency dentist if he doesn’t have a general dentist who can see him very soon. If there is, in fact, an infection, it is crucial he be seen today.

This article is sponsored by Phoenix emergency dentist, Dr. Hillary Peck.

Emergency Dentist

How to get swelling to go down from toothache?

I had my top two wisdom teeth pulled on Tuesday and I go in for surgery to pull my bottom ones in a couple of weeks. My lower left wisdom tooth is infected causing severe pain and swelling. I look rather ridiculous.

I’ve been taking antibiotics since Wednesday and taking Norco for pain around the clock. I’ve got a busy weekend coming up and can manage the pain with Meds but what do I do about the swelling? How long does it take for the antibiotics to help with swelling?

Thanks, Darren

Dear Darren,

The antibiotics are for the infected wisdom tooth to help clear up the infection; however antibiotics do not dissipate the swelling completely. Tissue that’s inflamed around a tooth can be reduced by taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen or Advil every six hours. You should also place an ice pack on your check where the infection is. Keep it there for about 15 minutes and repeat several times a day to keep the swelling down. We recommend a salt water solution as well. Take a teaspoon of salt and mix it with 8 ounces of warm water. Swish and spit until the entire glass is empty and repeat a few times a day. If your symptoms are not decreasing over the next several days we advise you to see the oral surgeon sooner to have the tooth extracted because some infections can be more severe than others making it difficult for the swelling to decrease.

Post courtesy of Peck Family Dentistry, P.C.