Impacted Tooth

An impacted tooth is a tooth that, for some reason, has been blocked from breaking through the gum. Sometimes a tooth may be only partially impacted, meaning it has started to break through. Symptoms of impacted teeth. You may not experience any symptoms in some cases. In other cases, an impacted tooth may cause: red, swollen, or bleeding gums, bad breath, a bad taste in your mouth, difficulty opening your mouth, pain when opening your mouth, or when chewing and biting. Symptoms may come and go over weeks or months. An impacted tooth can be painless. However, when an impacted wisdom tooth tries to come in, the flap of gum on top of it can become infected and swollen. This can hurt. You might even feel pain in nearby teeth, or in the ear on that side of your face. An impacted tooth can lead to an infection called pericoronitis. If untreated, this infection can spread to the throat or into the neck. Severe infections require a hospital stay and surgery. Impacted teeth also can get cavities. An impacted tooth can push on the neighboring molar. This can lead to tooth movement, decay or gum disease. It also can change the way your teeth come together. Rarely, impacted teeth can cause cysts or other growths in the jaw.