If you have half-erupted wisdom teeth, dental overcrowding isn’t your only problem. You could also be at risk for pericoronitis: inflammation around a dental crown. At Alta Loma Dental Care, we care for patients of all ages and keep a sharp eye out for problems in how adolescent patients’ teeth erupt. If pericoronitis is not stopped, it could lead to pain and a worse infection.
Dentists say teeth are “impacted” when they are unable to fully push through the gum line. It is common for the upper canines to be impacted and for the lower wisdom teeth to get stuck after partially erupting. The wisdom teeth can be especially troublesome because they often do not emerge until the patient has already undergone orthodontic work and is old enough for their jaw bone to have become more resistant to tooth migration. An impacted wisdom tooth will often be partially covered by a flap of gum tissue called an operculum. The operculum is a trap for food debris and bacterial build-up, causing the gum tissue to be inflamed.
Patients will struggle to clean a partially-covered tooth. They may try oral antibiotics and swishing warm salt water around their mouths, but the infections will likely recur. At our office, we can cut away an operculum and extract most impacted wisdom teeth. The procedure will leave the patient free from the risk of overcrowding and any additional discomfort that could result. But if patients maintain regular dental appointments, we will be able to identify stalled wisdom teeth earlier.
Alta Loma Dental Care is at 7283 Carnelian St, Alta Loma, California, 91701. To schedule an appointment, call 909-987-6268 or visit Alta Loma Dental Care and fill out a contact sheet.
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