13 May DISEASES CAUSED BY WISDOM TEETH
Wisdom tooth impaction is a common phenomenon. The wisdom tooth is impacted when the soft and hard tissues hinder the normal eruption of the wisdom tooth. The impacted wisdom teeth, located at the back of your mouth, have inadequate access to proper cleaning, thus prone to decay that can affect the surrounding tissues to various extent. The impacted wisdom tooth brings changes in the relationship between the wisdom tooth and the surrounding tissues, which is the basic element for inducing diseases.
SOFT TISSUE DISEASES CAUSED BY WISDOM TEETH
The highest prevalence of common soft tissue diseases caused by impacted wisdom teeth is pericoronitis, space infection, and an abscess in the jaw. In addition, the impacted wisdom tooth can result in changes in the occlusal relationship, leading to injuries to both the occlusal muscles and ligaments of the temporomandibular joint.
Pericoronitis
Pericoronitis is an infected swollen gum tissue surrounding the crown caused by impaction or incomplete eruption of the wisdom tooth. The impacted third molar can’t be completely clean leading to the gum flap collecting food debris, thus accumulating bacteria responsible for its decay.
Symptoms include sore, puffy gum tissue, unpleasant smell or taste, and discharge pus. More serious symptoms involve swelling in that part of the face, swollen lymph nodes, and jaw spasms. If the throat and neck are affected, breathing could be hindered. Thus, it is necessary to contact your surgeon as early as possible.
To treat pericoronitis, the dentist will clean the area and prescribe antibiotics for infection. An antibacterial oral rinse that can help flush clean the infected area will also be recommended. The dentist will also prescribe a pain reliever to manage pain. The infected area will be under the monitoring of the dentist. Depending on the wisdom tooth condition, if it’s erupting normally, the dentist will ensure that the infection doesn’t return but when it’s impacted, the dentist will suggest removing the wisdom teeth.
Space Infection
Wisdom tooth causes the space infection in the surroundings. Masticator space infections and infratemporal space infections are superficial odontogenic orofacial space infections that typically originate from the third molar.
Masticator space infections commonly arise from the third molar tooth to implicate the masticator spaces consisting of the masseteric, pterygoid, and temporal space components. An infratemporal space infection usually derives from the third maxillary molar tooth. Infection may also spread internally to affect an area close to the lateral pharyngeal wall, resulting in difficulty swallowing.
Periodontal Abscess
A periodontal abscess is a pocket of accumulated pus and starts in the supporting bone tissue structures of the teeth. The infection from the pericoronitis of the wisdom tooth spreads to the jaw bone and attached gingiva, causing festering and swelling.
To treat the abscess, the pus will be drained and the periodontal pocket cleaned. The root surfaces of the tooth will be smoothed out by scaling and planing below the gum line for the tooth to heal and prevent further infections from arising.
Hard Tissue Diseases Caused by Wisdom Teeth
The distinct growth angles of the wisdom tooth can cause pathological changes in the surrounding tissues that generate various diseases such as crowding of the anterior teeth, caries or cavities, pulpitis, periodontitis, periapical diseases, and osteomyelitis of the jaw.
Caries
Caries of the distal crown and neck of the second molar can be easily induced by wisdom teeth. As the molars have complicated surface than the smoother surface of the front teeth, keeping the molars completely clean is quite a challenge. Especially when it comes to partially impacted wisdom teeth, located in the back of the mouth, the food debris is stuck at angles that are hard to clean. Not only the third molar itself will be prone to decay but it can also affect the second molar and the tooth it occludes. For treatment, the dentist may recommend fluoride treatment at the earliest stage, fillings when beyond the early stage, a crown when there is extensive decay, and RCT if the decay reaches the pulp. Severely decayed and impossible to be restored teeth are recommended to be surgically extracted.
Pulpitis
Pulpitis is gradually caused by severe caries. The treatment depends on the type and the cause of pulpitis. Reversible pulpitis treatment includes fillings by removal of the decay and crown when a tooth is cracked.
Periodontitis
The impaction of wisdom teeth can easily cause diseases of periodontitis and periapical inflammation to surrounding teeth.
Absorption of Alveolar Bone
Impaction of wisdom tooth causes the absorption and disappearing of the interalveolar septum
Dental Crowding
The forward inclination and pushing of the wisdom tooth cause the dental crowding of adjacent teeth. A person may need orthodontic treatments to straighten crooked teeth. Although an article reported that wisdom teeth aren’t the primary cause of crowded teeth. Impacted wisdom teeth don’t have enough pressure on neighboring teeth to cause crowding. Crooked teeth are the result of the natural drifting of teeth due to the changes in the shape of the face and jaws as the human ages.
Inflammation of the Jaw
The impaction of a wisdom tooth can easily cause marginal osteomyelitis in the jaw. Osteomyelitis occurs when bacteria from nearby infected tissue reach the bone. Treatment of osteomyelitis of the jaws includes the elimination of the cause, incision and drainage, sequestrectomy, cauterization, decortication, resection of the jaw, antibiotics, and hyperbaric oxygen.
Conclusion
Following proper oral hygiene, and thorough cleaning of the wisdom teeth can lessen the chances of diseases occurring. The best is to check with your dentist about your wisdom teeth as early as possible to prevent complications.
