Causes of tooth heel swelling and pain

Swelling and pain behind the teeth are usually caused by pericoronitis of wisdom teeth. We know that wisdom teeth are a common type of teeth and sometimes they always have adverse effects on other people's teeth. When this happens, you should seek medical attention in time. If the impact is indeed serious, the wisdom teeth should be removed in time. Pericoronitis of wisdom teeth often occurs in adolescents and can easily lead to some uncomfortable symptoms.

Causes of tooth heel swelling and pain

As human food becomes increasingly refined, the jawbone gradually degenerates and shrinks, resulting in an inconsistency between the length of the teeth and the jawbone. Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt in the dentition, and usually erupt between the ages of 18 and 25. Due to insufficient eruption position, wisdom teeth may be incompletely erupted and become ectopic or impacted, with part of the crown exposed outside the gums and part covered by the gums.

A narrow and deep blind pocket is formed between the gums and the tooth, which easily accumulates food debris and bacteria and is difficult to clean with normal brushing and rinsing. In addition, the crown gums are easily damaged by chewing food, forming ulcers. When the body's resistance decreases and the virulence of bacteria increases, it can cause inflammation of the tissues around the crown.

Clinical manifestations

Pericoronitis of wisdom teeth often occurs in adolescents aged 18 to 25 years old, more commonly in the mandible, and can be divided into acute and chronic. Clinically, it often presents in the form of acute inflammation. In the early stages of acute inflammation, patients only feel slight swelling and discomfort in the affected area, and the pain worsens when chewing, swallowing, or opening their mouths.

If the disease continues to progress, local spontaneous throbbing pain may occur and radiate to the head and face on the same side. When inflammation invades the masticatory muscles, it can cause varying degrees of mouth opening restriction. Examination shows that the gingival flaps are red, swollen and eroded, with obvious tenderness, and pus may overflow when the gingival pockets are pressed. Symptoms such as chills, fever, headache, and constipation may occur to varying degrees throughout the body.

Chronic pericoronitis of wisdom teeth usually has no obvious clinical symptoms, only slight tenderness and discomfort in the affected area. When resistance decreases, acute attacks often occur. Further aggravation of acute pericoronitis may cause infection of adjacent tissues, organs or fascial spaces.