Pericornitis is one of the most common dental emergencies seen by dentists. Many patients have a very hard time understanding it and this can lead to confusion. Lower wisdom teeth often do not have enough room to correctly erupt out into the mouth. They are often covered by bone and excess gum tissue.

          In periocornitis, a small pouch of gum tissue covering a lower wisdom tooth traps popcorn, seeds or any of a number of other things. The food irritates the gum tissue forming the pouch and causes the tissue to swell. When a lower wisdom tooth fails to erupt upward, the opposing upper wisdom tooth often over erupts downward. When the gum tissues swell, the upper wisdom tooth bites into the gums and this biting causes a lot of dental pain.

          With pericornitis, patients often rush into the dentist and insist that the lower tooth be removed when it really is the upper wisdom tooth biting into the gums that's causing the pain. Fortunately, the over erupted upper wisdom tooth is often much easier to remove than the impacted lower. With the upper wisdom tooth removed, there's nothing biting into the swollen tissues and the gums can heal and the lower tooth can be removed later.

          The earlier that pericornitis is treated, the better. Many patients have several episodes of gums swelling that comes and goes away. It is much easier to do oral surgery when the tissue surrounding the wisdom tooth are healthy. Removing the upper wisdom tooth, placing the patient on antibiotics and then removing the swollen and infected lower wisdom tooth in about a week is usually the best option. The Atlanta Dental Group PC provides our patients with most oral surgery services including routine extractions and wisdom tooth extraction. Most oral surgery procedures go very well, take less than an hour and are done in our office. Our dental practice will see oral surgery emergency patients. Call 404-874-7428 for an appointment.