Exposure of an Impacted Tooth

If you are experiencing bad breath, gum tenderness and a lingering ache in your jaw, the problem could be an impacted tooth. An oral surgeon can offer you treatment, including the option of exposing the tooth.

Impacted Tooth

• If you have an impacted tooth, one of your teeth has failed to break through your gum tissue. Wisdom teeth are the most common teeth to become impacted, either because they have no room to erupt in your mouth or because they have become twisted while growing in.

Procedure

• One treatment for an impacted tooth is surgical exposure. An oral surgeon can remove the gum tissue covering the tooth. If the tooth does have room to grow, removing the barrier of the gum allows it to emerge and move into place without obstruction, according to "The Orthodontic Treatment of Impacted Teeth."

Considerations

• In some cases, an oral surgeon could need to install an orthodontic pack over the exposed tooth, which will prevent gum or bone tissue from growing back over the tooth. If there is no room for a tooth to grow in, exposure is the first step in extracting it from your jaw.