Wisdom Tooth Problems

Symptoms

Wisdom teeth, whether they are impacted or have broken through the gums, often cause no symptoms. Symptoms that may mean your wisdom teeth are causing problems and need to be removed include:

• Pain or jaw stiffness near an impacted tooth.
• Pain or irritation from a tooth coming in at an awkward angle and rubbing against your cheek, tongue, or top or bottom of the mouth.
• An infected swelling in the flap of gum tissue that has formed on top of an impacted tooth that has partially broken through the gum. When wisdom teeth only partially break through, the skin next to the tooth opens up. Germs can get in around the tooth and gum, causing infection.
• Crowding of other teeth.
• Tooth decay or gum disease if there's not enough room to properly care for the wisdom tooth and surrounding teeth.

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Author:	Jeannette Curtis	Last Updated: September 25, 2007
Medical Review:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Steven K. Patterson, BSc, DDS, MPH - Dentist
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