Possible wisdom tooth?

[AvaJane727]

i had a regular dentist cleaning 4 days ago and i got x-rays done (the x-ray where they put the thing in your mouth which you bite down on) and everything seemed normal, no cavities or anything and they didn’t say anything was wrong. however two days ago i woke up with one side of my face swollen, and where the bottom left wisdom tooth is the location is very swollen compared to the other side, painful, and very red and inflamed looking. the pain is still there, getting worse too. is it possible this could be a wisdom tooth coming in?? even if i had x-rays for 4 days ago? if not what else could it be?

 

[Dr M]

Good day

This might be a possibility. You could have pericoronitis. Do you have any xrays you could share?

 

[AvaJane727]

unfortunately i do not. i went back to the dentist and they didn’t really say much. my dentist looked in my mouth and saw that it was infected. she told me that food got trapped somewhere under the gums (not sure how that happened) and i was repetitively biting on the gum tissue and that’s what caused the infection. she prescribed me amoxicillin and told me that in 6 months at my next cleaning they would do a panoramic x-ray to check for any wisdom teeth. could you explain how food could’ve gotten trapped under my gums where my wisdom tooth would be? and are panoramic x-rays the only x-rays that can show wisdom teeth? because i had a bitewing x-ray a week ago, and they didn’t say anything about seeing any wisdom teeth..

Good day

This might be a possibility. You could have pericoronitis. Do you have any xrays you could share?

 

[Dr M]

Good day.

What you have is what we call pericoronitis. This means inflammation surrounding the crown of a tooth. It sounds like your wisdom teeth, might not have enough space to erupt fully. Food then gets trapped between the portion of the gum that is covering the tooth, and the tooth itself. This leads to pain.
A panoramic x-ray will give more valuable information regarding the positioning of the wisdom tooth in relation to other important anatomical landmarks, such as nerves, when considering removal of your wisdom teeth

 

[AvaJane727]

thank you so much for your help! last question, is it okay to wait 6 months if my wisdom teeth don’t have room to erupt completely? or will that cause more problems?

 

[AvaJane727]

thank you so much for your help! last question, is it okay to wait 6 months if my wisdom teeth don’t have room to erupt completely? or will that cause more problems?

what i mean by this is, is it okay to wait 6 months for another appointment in my case? or should i ask for a sooner one?

 

[Dr M]

It depends on your pain level. With anti-inflammatory meds and good oral hygiene habits, the appointment can be postponed for 6 months.