What is pericoronitis and how does it occur?

Pericoronitis refers to localized inflammation and infection of the gums and most often occurs in wisdom teeth.
Wisdom teeth during eruption often do not have enough space to grow completely, so due to the lack of space, they grow partially, leaving part of the crown covered by the pulp. This space represents a point of difficult self-cleaning and oral hygiene, which results in an ideal place for the accumulation of food and bacteria. Such an environment can cause infection of varying intensity and pain.

What are the symptoms and causes?

Symptoms of pericoronitis can vary depending on the severity of the infection. Mild symptoms such as dull pain, discomfort in the mouth, changes in taste usually disappear after a few days, but appear repeatedly over the course of months. Severe symptoms include swelling, pain when swallowing, fever, suppuration, swollen lymph nodes in the neck and require an immediate response.
Causes associated with pericoronitis are poor or difficult oral hygiene, stress, pregnancy, upper respiratory tract infection. It most often appears in younger people and is equally represented in both sexes.

Diagnosis and treatment?

The diagnosis is made on the basis of a clinical examination and is almost always supported by an X-ray (orthopan). It is important to rule out other causes, primarily of dental origin.
The treatment is carried out based on the intensity of the symptoms, where with mild symptoms the symptoms stop with a thorough cleaning and removal of food residues. If an infection occurs and more severe symptoms appear, the dentist prescribes appropriate antibiotic therapy. With such symptoms, it is important to act in a timely manner in order to reduce the risk of complications.
When the symptoms calm down, I guess we can discuss further procedures to prevent future inflammations. If it is a repeated problem that appears several times a year (3 or more), and there is no room for full growth of wisdom teeth, it is recommended to remove the tooth.
Pericoronitis is one of the frequent interventions in our practice, so anyone who has similar symptoms should contact their dentist. Timely reporting prevents unwanted complications and controlled monitoring of wisdom tooth growth.