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Wisdom Teeth
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I have three of my wisdom teeth already and the lower right one seems to be pushing through at the moment. It has been 'half in, half out' for a few months now and never caused any trouble. My last dental check up was November.
At the moment I am in exceptional pain. The whole gum area around the tooth feels (but doesn't look!) swollen and my cheek has puffed up. It aches so much and even though I've taken pain killers it simply dulls the pain rather than stops it. It hurts to chew or open my mouth.
It has only hurt for 2/3 days now and the tooth and gum haven't moved much. The gum is all split like the tooth is trying harder to push through.
I really don't know what to do. Surely if there was a problem with the wisdom tooth being impacted or infected it would have been picked up in November.
I can't recall my other three teeth hurting this much!
At the moment I am in exceptional pain. The whole gum area around the tooth feels (but doesn't look!) swollen and my cheek has puffed up. It aches so much and even though I've taken pain killers it simply dulls the pain rather than stops it. It hurts to chew or open my mouth.
It has only hurt for 2/3 days now and the tooth and gum haven't moved much. The gum is all split like the tooth is trying harder to push through.
I really don't know what to do. Surely if there was a problem with the wisdom tooth being impacted or infected it would have been picked up in November.
I can't recall my other three teeth hurting this much!
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Comments
I would recommend that you go to see your dentist just in case. Even if he tells you that there's nothing he can do, at least it will put your mind at rest.
I have found that all the usual stuff is useful though - popsicles, putting something cool against your cheek, avoiding lying on that side of your face at night, etc.
Sounds like the same kind of pain, yes. I've been rinsing often with salt water (read somewhere it helps?!). Thanks for the advice!
(should know them well enough, I get the lecture every time I dare mention mine hurt to my mum).
Generally what makes them hurt when they are half coming through is the bugs, dirt and germs that live in your mouth and come on your foor irritating the raw skin on the gums, so brushing well, mouthwash and Corsydol will ease this a lot by keeping it all really clean.
While seeing your Dentist is a nice idea it's not realistic for cost/practical reasons for lots of people and generally the pain will go away in 3-5 days anyway so you can consider waiting a bit first. Painkiller wise, don't forget you can take paracetamol and ibuprofen and if you time it right you can take one of them every 3/4 hours which helps.
I've had problem after problem with my wisdom teeth, and the only thing that sorted one of my gum infections out was a course of antibiotics.
Salt water rinses are good too. Boiled, cooled water and a pinch of salt. Taste rank, but they do the trick!
I find that anything with lidocaine as the active ingredient works well - i think there's an adult strength anbusol - 5% lidocaine(?). Or bonjela if there's any lying around.
Used that in liquid form and it didn't touch the pain.
In the last few days it has hur far less and some of the gum flaked off today (hmm, delightful) but I've booked an appointment with the dentist anyway!
If mine ever come out that will be a general job, but plenty are done under local.
It's really annoying as well because they've pushed my molars out of line, and I had a frickin brace for over a year to get them in line in the first place! But I've got a 11am emergency appointment tomorrow. Not a big fan of the dentist though :nervous:
Three days ago my gum started to swell up where my final wisdom tooth will be, although it hasn't started to push through yet. Over the three days the swelling has got bigger, it's a cushiony/spongy lump that's taller than the tooth next to it, I can't eat on that side of my mouth and there's a constant dull ache there.
People keep saying get it checked out with the dentist, but I don't have one and I don't particularly want to faff around trying to find one if he's going to look in my mouth, tell me to just leave it be, and charge me extortionate amounts for the privilege! So an update from you guys would be good
with regards to innocent_kates post, i totally agree, I had a brace on the nhs to fix all my teeth straight, was told I didnt have room for anymore teeth... but my wisdom teeth are still allowed to try and come thru naturally, causing my teeth to go crooked again. Bit of a waste of the nhs money, don't you think??
ah well if i need to get them fixed again im going to the International Hospital in Beijing. Cheaper and just as clean, lol!
There should be an Emergency Dental Service somewhere near you (often based in hospitals) which will see patients who aren't registered anywhere and are in pain.
As usual, ring NHS Direct and they should give you the details for your area.
If you can take paracetamol that should help a little.
Mr Dentist said 'you have lovely teeth, the problem with people who have lovely teeth is that they usually haven't had any whipped out when young. This means when teeth want to grow in they've nowhere to go and you end up with this' *points to disgusting wisdom tooth and infection related gunk* 'come back next week we'll clean it up and make some decisions'.
My interpretation: I need it out!
http://www.nhs.uk/England/Dentists/LocalSearch.aspx
Type your postcode in there. I've found a couple in the Durham area who will see you on an emergency basis.