Argh! My mouth! What's wrong?

[cslewis]

I was wondering if anyone would know why I'm having horrible pain in the back right bottom of my mouth. Everyone knows that behind the molars, in the jaw, there's a strip of gum. Normally, mine are flat and don't bother me, but that's not the case right now. The left gum-bottom is flat and normal, but the right gum-bottom is now a huge lump that's so large that I can't clamp my jaws together.

My mother thinks that they're my wisdom teeth, but doesn't 15 seem to young to have them come in? I thought wisdom teeth only arrived in a person's late twenties. In either case, what do you guys think? Has anyone ever felt this, or am I just weird?

 

[iBlue]

no, that is not too early. if they are impacted your other molars are in jeopardy of damage. you need an X-ray, sooner rather than later.

it might just be irritation of the gums (popcorn stuck back there or something got cut, etc) or even an infection. either way a dentist is needed at the moment.

good luck. hope you feel better.

 

[2nyRiggz]

Go to the dentist so he can use that nice sharp hook on you....oh and tell him you like the pincher


Bless

 

[neocell]

... but doesn't 15 seem to young to have them come in? ...

I had mine (all four at once) removed when I was 17. Could be them coming in...

 

[iBlue]

Go to the dentist so he can use that nice sharp hook on you....oh and tell him you like the pincher


Bless

now now, that is not very nice.

by the way, to the OP: 15 is statistically "early" but not unheard of for wisdom teeth to rear their ugly heads. better see the man with the hook... i mean dentist.

 

[cslewis]

Oh, crap.

Fearing that this might be an infection, I risned my mouth with antiseptic mouthwash. To make a long sotry short, i'm bleeding. What do I do now? Wait until the morning?

On that same note, htank god I had some percocet left over from my surgery. The pain would be unberaable without it...

 

[Oryan]

I know many people that have had their wisdom teeth removed when they were about 16 or so. I'm almost 19 and mine just started coming in. It's quite painful on the right but not on the left (I can actually see tooth on the left side). I'm getting x-rays next week. I hope your pain isn't anything serious.

 

[Felldownthewell]

I'm 15 and had my wisdom teeth out earlier this year (I'm 16 in 2 weeks). 15 is about the time they start to take wisdom teeth out, becuase if they are not removed before they start to come in, they can impact, which is bad. Go to a dentist, 15 may be rare for them to come in but is certanly not unheardof(sp?).

Good luck.

 

[Vader]

Go to the dentist, they will x-ray.
I just got my wisdom teeth pulled 4 days ago, and I am 17.

 

[SamIchi]

I've had one growing in for a good couple years. I was goin' to get it out in January, but something with my insurance messed everything up. I think it's going to start hurtin soon. I gotta get mine out. Mine's completely sideways. I'm 21.

 

[Shamus]

What is the point of wisdom teeth if they cause so many problems??

 

[calebjohnston]

I got my wisdom teeth right at that age - they can really hurt. I remember just gnawing away at my gums with anything I could.

 

[devilot]

What is the point of wisdom teeth if they cause so many problems??

Wikipedia's take on them, here. One idea is that they are left over from a past time when human diet required the use of such teeth... but have since become superfluous and even an annoyance.

 

[iBlue]

What is the point of wisdom teeth if they cause so many problems??

flaw of evolution.

Oh, crap.

Fearing that this might be an infection, I risned my mouth with antiseptic mouthwash. To make a long sotry short, i'm bleeding. What do I do now? Wait until the morning?

On that same note, htank god I had some percocet left over from my surgery. The pain would be unberaable without it...

i want to hear the long story.

most likely you can safely wait till morning. do get to a dentist tomorrow though. take your temperature, make sure it isn't high (infection) and use that antiseptic mouthwash a few more times until you can see the dentist.
thank goodness for percocet.

 

[yg17]

I'll be 20 later this week and have had my wisdom teeth for a few years now. 3 of 4 are growing in crooked and I need to get them removed. But they don't hurt, so I'm putting the removal off.

 

[iBlue]

I'll be 20 later this week and have had my wisdom teeth for a few years now. 3 of 4 are growing in crooked and I need to get them removed. But they don't hurt, so I'm putting the removal off.

the longer you wait the worse it is. </rule of thumb>

 

[yg17]

the longer you wait the worse it is. </rule of thumb>

well crap.

 

[Kingsly]

Go to the dentist so he can use that nice sharp hook on you....oh and tell him you like the pincher


Bless

Oww.

 

[w_parietti22]

What is the point of wisdom teeth if they cause so many problems??

Maybe they give you wisdom. What else could they be for?

Ok bad joke. w/e.

But as other people have said I think its a flaw of evolution.

 

[iRachel]

I had my wisdom teeth pulled when I was 13 - they arrived early in my case I suppose.

But I second what everyone else is saying - assuming you're able to stop the bleeding for the moment, you can probably wait until morning to call the dentist - but do it ASAP once you wake up.

 

[Leareth]

Mine started to come in when I was 12
now I have all of them and no problems.
not going to get them removed.
I love showing my phys anth/osteology students that I have a full set of teeth.

So i might be your wisdom tooth - they do start growing ~12 years of age so you are in the ball park for it to try to erupt...and it got stuff and went bad...
dentist will pull it out...

 

[Abstract]

If you get them removed when they have already gone through the gums, it'll hurt a lot. If you get them removed before they start coming out, they'll have to cut your gums and remove them, but apparently it's less painful this way.

I'd argue that though. Three of my wisdom teeth were removed within an hour, while the 4th one took over 2 hours.

 

[jadekitty24]

When I got my top 2 wisdoms they grew in at such an angle that they grew INTO the molars in front of them. There were no signs that I was getting my wisdoms, although as a child I remember the dentist taking an x-ray of my teeth and telling my mother that the top wisdoms had to be surgically removed before they started to grown in due to the angle they were at. Years later it's coming up on Labor Day weekend. My head started to pound and then my last 2 molars were hurting really bad, under the surface. The pain was excrutiating. Labor Day weekend, meaning I had to suffer like this for 3 days. When I got to the dentist the x-ray showed the wisdoms were actually inside the molars that were in front of them. The dentist was amazed that I was still conscious. In the end I had to have the 2 wisdoms and the 2 molars removed. Moral of the story...don't waste time when it comes to your wisdom teeth. Get an x-ray. The pain I felt that weekend was worse than childbirth.

 

[florencevassy]

I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed when I was 16. They weren’t causing problems yet but since I had braces which corrected a few problems we didn’t want to take any chances with stuff being undone.

I remember that it really wasn’t so bad, I took painkillers and rested and felt fine in a couple of days.

Go to the dentist and see what he says. Good luck!

 

[baby duck monge]

Definitely sounds like wisdom teeth. If that's what it turns out to be, and you don't have them removed, I'm afraid to tell you that you have a lot more of this in your future.
I don't remember when my wisdom teeth started to come in, but I'm 22 now - getting close to 23 - and they are still working their way out. It seems like they decide to come in a little bit at a time as to not make things so unbearable that you want to die. Funny you should ask about this, though, because in the past few days my bottom left one has been working its way a bit further up, and it has not been a treat.
Like everyone said, though, get it checked out. As long as there's nothing WRONG with them, and you feel like you can deal with this pain off-and-on for a while, just roll with it. You'll find litle tricks that help ease the pain at least for a little while.
Also, if/when you get a little flap of gum and it eventually comes off, it can be gross, but don't be freaked out.