Should I be Worried About a Broken Wisdom Tooth?
Posted by writeradmin
I have a wisdom tooth which has been rotting for some times. It didn’t hurt so I didn’t bother with it. Now it broke off at the gumline. I don’t see anything left. Do I need to worry about this or will the rest take care of itself?
Dan
Dear Dan,
At this point you are probably okay, though I’m sure you could find a thousand dentists to tell you to get it checked out. The tooth is going to be completely gone soon. Once the crown of a tooth is gone, the rest doesn’t take long. And, because it’s open, you’re not going to have an infection get out of control.
Because this is a wisdom tooth, you won’t need to worry about replacing it, which is great for your situation. Had it been another tooth, you’d want to replace it. This isn’t just about appearance. The adjacent teeth will shift or tip into the open space, which will throw off your bite. That leads to headaches and jaw pain.
I’m going to be honest with you, that even though things worked out this time, you got really lucky. Most of the time, untreated decay turns into an infected tooth. Those have to be treated or it can become very dangerous. In fact, six to ten people die every year in the United States because of untreated tooth infections.
Given that you’ve had this decay for some time, my guess is that you have other decay. You don’t want to risk those blowing up into a tooth infection. Early treatment is less invasive and less expensive than waiting until it turns into a full blown dental emergency.
I don’t know if you avoid the dentist because of finances, but there are affordable dentists who will work with you to get the treatment you need.
This blog is brought to you by a compassionate dentist in Arnold, MD, Dr. Meredith Esposito.
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