Symptoms of impacted wisdom teeth

Patients suffering from impacted tooth have been on the increase every year. They vary significantly in age and also symptoms they indicate. Some show symptomatic and some show asymptomatic molar teeth. However, the most common symptoms include pain, gingivitis, dental carious problem and oral infection, though they varied in each patient.

A study was conducted in Department of Dentistry, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, to identify the association between age and common symptoms of the patients suffering from impacted molar teeth and also identify the types of impactions associated. A sample of nearly 680 patients who possessed impacted molar teeth from the period of June 2002 to the period of December 2005 was included.

They were grouped into five age groups like (1) less than or equal to 20, (2) 21-30, (3) 31-40, (4) 41-50 and (5) greater than 50 years. The histories of all the patients were collected including radiographic examinations. The details regarding the patient and their tooth were recorded separately, i.e., age, gender, type of impaction, location as well as their symptoms.

The results proved that there were four common symptoms namely pain, dental caries, gingivitis and oral infection irrespective of age. 178 maxillary impactions and 502 mandibular impactions were found in wisdom teeth. The types of impacted molar teeth in the order of their occurrence are mesioangular, horizontal, vertical, distoangular and buccoversion or linguoversion impacted teeth. In addition, the most common occurrence of impacted molar teeth was in the age group of 21-30. Dental carious problems were the most occurring symptom in this age group as compared to other symptoms, whereas gingivitis was common in people above 30 years of age.

Another study investigated the symptoms before consulting the doctor and during the waiting period for surgery. The reasons behind the necessity for the treatment of asymptomatic wisdom teeth were also observed. Pain was the major symptom in almost 73.7% of the patients in the waiting period. Owing to this, nearly 67 patients out of 423 studied could not carry on their duties and hence lost three working days on an average. Discomfort was the next major identified symptom.

The extent of these symptoms may be underestimated often. In case of insufficient space, wisdom teeth can be impacted in the jawbone. There are chances for even all the four wisdom teeth to get impacted. Pain or tenderness in the gums, red and swollen gums are the most common symptoms, which are mostly followed by swelling and jaw pain.

The other symptoms include bad breath, unpleasant taste while biting the food in the infected area of the tooth and it may lead to headaches. If these symptoms are left untreated, they can force other teeth, leading to other complications like gum disease, formation of cysts or tumors in the gum line and crowding of teeth. It is possible to diagnose the condition using a dental x ray prior to the occurrence of symptoms if the patient does a regular oral checkup.