Pericoronitis is a very common condition in which there is pain in and around the last tooth of the mouth. It is very commonly associated with erupting third molar or the wisdom tooth. This pain can be sometimes seen with swelling inside the mouth which makes it difficult to chew or swallow. The important point is that it is not related to age. This kind of pain can be seen at any age.
Cause of the pain:
The pain is initiated when the plaque that is present on the tooth is not cleaned properly which gets trapped in the flappy tissue and causes inflammation. The cause of the flappy tissue is the inability of the molar to erupt properly.
Symptoms of Perocoronitis:
- Pain on chewing food
- Pain on swallowing food
- Swelling on the side of the face (extra oral swelling)
- Tender extra oral swelling
- Reduced mouth opening.
- Slight redness around the erupting tooth
- Halitosis (bad breath)
- Slight fever or rise in temperature in some cases of pericoronitits
- Ulceration or sloughing around the operculum (flappy tissue)
Types of Pericoronitis
It is classifies into three types:
Sub acute pericoronitis
Acute Pericoronitis symptoms seen with less systemic symptoms seen in the patient.
Acute pericoronitis
Severe pain in the last erupting tooth or impacted wisdom tooth with swelled operculum, reduced mouth opening, tender extra oral swelling etc.
Chronic pericoronitis
Frequent recurrent episodes of acute pericoronitits seen over a period of a year.
Complications:
- If the pericoronitis is not taken care of at the right time it can lead to the following complications:
- Localised to a specific area of concern and is called Periodontal abscess.
- Spread posteriorly and medially towards the tongue and cause problem in swallowing.
- Spread to a greater extent posteriorly and include more oral spaces which causes reduced mouth opening.
- Peritonsillar abscess: Spread of infection to the tonsillar area causes this.
- Cellulitis: Spread of the infection to large oral spaces causing a huge extra oral swelling. This is a very rare complication.
- Ludwigs angina: Spread of the infection to both sides of the jaw and causing a huge extra oral swelling with difficulty in mouth opening and breathing. This is a medical emergency and needs urgent medical care.
Available treatment options:
- Cleaning of the flap by medicated irrigation.
- Topical anesthetic application to symptomatically relieve the pain.
- Antibiotic and Analgesic course need to taken.
- Removal of the operculum if the tooth will erupt completely (decided by the dentist)
- Proper treatment planning to decide the long term solution for the problem like extraction of the tooth.
Precautions:
Maintaining your oral hygiene is the most important way to avoid pericoronitis.
However if it is still bothering you again and again the best dentist in North Delhi, Ashok Vihar, Dr. Rajat Sachdeva suggests to visit the dentist as soon as possible. If this is not taken care of at the right moment then can lead to something serious. Book your appointment with Dr. Rajat Sachdeva’s Dental institute, Ashok Vihar.
