Wisdom teeth can be a huge nuisance, both to your everyday life and your overall health. Most people need their wisdom teeth taken out at some point because their mouth doesn’t have enough room for them. They can also cause additional issues such as infection and tooth misalignment. Impacted wisdom teeth can also cause a slew of issues if they’re not taken out.
Wisdom teeth grow in at different ages for different children, but if your child has any of the following symptoms, there’s a chance they’re growing in and need to get checked out.
Irritation Around the Gums
Wisdom teeth coming in can easily affect the gums. When they grow in, there’s a good chance your child will feel swelling around the gums in the back of their mouth where they’d be growing in. They might be red, inflamed, or uncomfortable. An impacted wisdom tooth can cause even more gum irritation.
Pain in the Mouth
There’s a strong connection between wisdom teeth growing in and pain within the mouth and jaw. While you may think it can cause pain just within the mouth, it can actually cause issues such as jaw pain and headaches. If your child mentions their jaw or back of their mouth hurting, getting headaches or sinus pain when they usually don’t, it might be time to visit your dentist.
Persistent Bad Breath
When wisdom teeth grow in, they usually don’t have enough room, causing them to be pinched in the gums. While this can be the root of the pain, it can also cause bad breath that won’t go away. A tooth that half grows in like this means it’s difficult to clean around it and keep the gums around it healthy, meaning bacteria will build up.
You may also be dealing with a persistent bad taste at the back of your mouth no matter how much you brush and floss.
Frequently Biting Your Cheek
It’s possible for wisdom teeth to grow in so slowly that you don’t even realize they’re growing in and making an impact on your mouth. Knowing how to properly bite down, talk, and chew is muscle memory for your mouth. If you repeatedly bite your cheek, it most likely means that things within your mouth are shifting and your muscle memory doesn’t take the new changes into account.
Contact Our Fort Worth Dentists
Wisdom teeth have the possibility of causing many issues within the mouth, which is why as soon as your child believes they might be starting to grow in, you should consult with the expert at Rio Dental. Our Fort Worth, TX dentists and orthodontists are specially trained in pediatric dentistry and can help decide when it’s best for your child to get their wisdom teeth removed.
To maximize your oral health and ensure that you receive the proper dental services your mouth needs, it’s important that the whole family visits the dentist twice a year. Contact Rio today for a high-quality dental experience!
