Impaction means that the wisdom tooth is growing in the unfavourable direction. This can cause pain as the tooth tries to erupt into a space that is too small or going into the wrong position. This can cause pain of varying severity, and in severe cases, can cause a lot of damage to your adjacent tooth or soft tissue.

Pericoronitis is an infection in the gums around a wisdom tooth.  It is caused when a pocket develops behind a wisdom tooth, collecting food and bacteria.  If enough builds up your body reacts to get the infection under control.  As the the gum becomes inflamed, it may be sore to bite on and makes eating difficult.

Decay can occur in any tooth and further back in your mouth it is difficult to keep your teeth clean.  As wisdom teeth are located at the back of your mouth, they are very prone to decay. For easier maintenance in the long term, we may recommend removal of affected teeth to keep the rest of your mouth healthy.