Impacted teeth: signs, symptoms and treatments

Impacted tooth is the term used to reference teeth that fail to emerge fully from the gum line or bone. Some teeth never appear while others only emerge partially.

The third set of molars, called wisdom teeth, are the most common teeth to become impacted, since the rest of the a person’s teeth are typically already in place before the wisdom teeth begin to emerge, normally between ages 17 and 21.

There are two main factors that can cause a tooth to become impacted. These include:
· Spacing – Some teeth do not have room in a person’s mouth to fully emerge.
· Position – If a tooth does not come in at the right direction, the misalignment can cause an impactment. Other crooked teeth can influence the direction that consequent teeth emerge as well.

Symptoms commonly include redness/swelling around the impacted tooth, pain or tenderness in your gum line or jaw bone and prolonged headaches or jaw aches. Once an impacted tooth is identified – usually via X-ray, the recommended treatment is normally extraction. Many times, tooth extraction can be handled in our office; however, for difficult situations an oral surgeon may be required.

If you think you might be dealing with an impacted tooth, please set up an appointment with us. We’d be happy to meet with you and discuss the best form of treatment if an impacted tooth is identified.