Wisdom teeth - remind and reassure me, please!

[Lilymaid]

DS has e-mailed me from university to say that one of his wisdom teeth has just come through and he can't close his jaw or eat properly.
Can he wait until he comes home and goes to his already booked check up? Unfortunately he's on his international year in the USA and his student medical insurance doesn't cover dentistry. If he went to a dentist in the USA just for a check up I can imagine it would cost $$$
He had a check up in August in the UK and his dentist didn't raise concerns.
Having written all this I feel fairly reassured but would appreciate the experience of others!

[calmlychaotic]

i remember getting 2 come through at once, couldn't eat, jaw didn't seem to come together. dentist booked me in straight away to get them taken out despite me not really being in any pain, i chickened out and didn't turn up for the op. never did get them out and they are fine. i must have been about 17 ish, anyway i wouldn't like to advise against seeing a medical professional, everyone's different but mine were ok

[CrikeyOHare]

There is a condition that can happened with emerging wisdom teeth that's called pericoronitis. Bits of food and stuff can get stuck under the skin flaps and cause a bit of an infection. When it happened to me, it was agony and I couldn't open and close my mouth. Might he have developed that? If it sounds like it, then Corsodyl will sort it out. (It has a different brand name in the States, not sure what).

[Lilymaid]

Thanks for your replies. I'll remind him to use some decent mouth wash (he is very good about cleaning his teeth, less good about the junk that he likes to eat). Corsodyl is pretty foul stuff and my dentist says it is for short term use only as it discolours teeth over time.
I remember having my wisdom teeth removed whilst I was at university as my jaw wasn't big enough for them, but looking at his photos (to reassure me), he has a big manly jaw (proud mother emoticon) so hopefully there is room for them to grow through nice and straight after a little teething discomfort.
I usually tell my DC to put up with a bit of discomfort but got caught out in a big way last year when DS' tiredness turned out not to be from too much clubbing but from a chronic illness, so now I am rather more paranoid concerned.

[CrikeyOHare]

Corsodyl is pretty foul stuff and my dentist says it is for short term use only as it discolours teeth over time

No. Sorry.

Corsodyl temporarily causes discolouration when it's first used, but that's easily brushed off. It doesn't change the colour of teeth. And, maybe it's foul, (I don't think so), but it's the gold standard treatment for an infection. A "decent mouthwash" won't make any difference - Corsodyl is not just a mouthwash.

Oh - and, btw, pericoronitis is NOT caused by not brushing your teeth

[Lilymaid]

Oh well, Crikey, my dentist begs to differ (or at least he did when I discussed this with him a couple of months ago). I've used Corsodyl for an infection and it certainly works. He advised using Listerine.
Did anyone say that pericoronitis was caused by tooth brushing?

[Lilymaid]

I think I got out of bed the wrong side this morning! Apologies Crikey