A wisdom tooth infection is common and in most cases, patients should have their wisdom teeth removed while they are young and healthy to avoid a future serious problems. Most people do not have enough room for their wisdom teeth and as a result of this lack of room, wisdom teeth often have trouble erupting out into the mouth. A kind of kangaroo pouch can develop that traps food and causes numerous problems.
With new super bacteria and antibiotic resistance problems, it is even important for everyone to take better care of their teeth and remove badly positioned wisdom teeth early in life to avoid a wisdom tooth infection. Years ago it was common for dental infections to kill patients. Since World War II and the discovery of penicillin, it is very uncommon to hear of people dying from the complications of dental infections. However, physicians and dentists have used antibiotics so much that a lot of the bacteria that were sensitive to antibiotics have been killed off and now many of the bacteria today can not be killed using antibiotic therapy.
The decaying food covering a wisdom tooth can cause a wisdom tooth infection and if it grows, it can push into the muscles that open and close the mouth. When this happens it is extremely difficult for a dentist to do anything because the patient can not open the mouth wide enough for the dentist to help. Typically this patient will be placed on a dental antibiotic and return for the wisdom tooth removal in three to seven days. Another problem that can occur is when the upper wisdom tooth erupts downward and begins to chew the top of the gums covering a lower impacted wisdom tooth. This is called pericornitis.
The dentists at the Atlanta Dental Group PC are dedicated to their patients' good health and well being. You are welcome to join our family of patients. They offer comprehensive General, Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry including wisdom tooth surgery. If you are concerned about a wisdom tooth infection, make a free dental consultation appointment with our senior Georgia Dentist, Dr. Mark Allan Padolsky, by calling 404-874-7428.