Why Does My Wisdom Tooth Hurt?

Wisdom teeth are an obstacle that most people will have to face at a certain point in their lives, though they tend to give some patients more grief than others. In some situations, wisdom teeth can come in without any problems; however, it’s more common for their arrival to be associated with a fair amount of discomfort.

There are a few reasons this could be the case—here’s what can cause discomfort associated with wisdom teeth, and what you can do to handle it.

What Can Cause Wisdom Tooth Pain?

The reason wisdom teeth are removed is because they often don’t grow in correctly, which is what causes the pain associated with them. For one, it’s common for wisdom teeth to be crowded out by the teeth that are already present, causing them to grow in crooked. In some cases, they may become impacted, meaning that they won’t be able to sprout at all.

Wisdom teeth are also a little bit difficult to clean, which makes them more prone to infection. If your wisdom tooth pain is associated with swelling, redness, or a foul taste in your mouth, this could potentially be the case for you.

Dealing with Wisdom Tooth Pain

As you might have guessed, the best thing that you can do to handle wisdom tooth pain is to have the tooth removed. If your tooth is impacted or has failed to grow in completely, this may require surgery.

In the meantime before your treatment, there are a few things that you can do to make yourself a little bit more comfortable. Over-the-counter pain relievers can be useful in this regard, though they aren’t always sufficient to deal with wisdom tooth discomfort on their own. You may want to pair them with a cold compress, which can be effective for numbing the mouth. Salt water rinses can also be effective at bringing down swelling, which can potentially ease discomfort.

In conjunction, this should be enough to keep you perfectly comfortable until you can have your wisdom tooth removed.

About Our Practice

At Brush Dental, we understand that your dental needs are unique to you, which is why we take the time to get to know you as an individual before prescribing you any kind of treatment. This allows us to not only craft you a treatment plan perfectly suited to you, but to ensure that you’ll be completely comfortable for the duration of your stay with us. We know that lots of people are intimidated by dentistry, which is why we’re happy to offer you care that will make you feel completely at home.

If you have any questions about wisdom teeth, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (469) 723-4000.