Sinus pressure occurs when your sinus cavity becomes blocked or narrowed due to infection or inflammation. Pressure in the sinuses can cause several issues, from chronic sinusitis to headaches to trouble breathing.
One of the causes of sinus pressure is impacted wisdom teeth. Learn more about how wisdom teeth cause sinus pressure and how dental professionals at TruBlu Dentistry can treat your condition.
How Do Wisdom Teeth Affect the Sinuses?
The maxillary (upper) wisdom teeth are located close to the sinus cavity. As your upper wisdom teeth grow, they begin to place pressure on the sinus cavity, causing them to narrow.
If the wisdom teeth become impacted, they can grow at an abnormal angle, and the root may extend toward the sinus. In some cases, impacted teeth can become infected and develop an abscess at the root. If left untreated, the infection can spread to the sinuses, causing inflammation and pain.
Symptoms of Sinus Problems Due to Wisdom Teeth Impaction
Sinus pressure isn’t the only symptom of impacted wisdom teeth. You may also experience issues such as:
- Pain that radiates up the cheeks toward the eyes
- Earache
- Headache with a sense of fullness or throbbing in the brows
- Nasal congestion
- Post-nasal drip resulting in a hoarse throat or coughing
How to Treat Sinus Pressure Due to Wisdom Tooth Impaction
You can temporarily manage the symptoms of sinus pressure with simple home remedies. These include taking OTC pain-relieving medications to reduce inflammation and placing a warm, damp towel on your cheeks, nose, and brows to open the nasal passages.
However, the most effective treatment is extraction to eliminate wisdom tooth-related pain and pressure in the sinuses. If your tooth has erupted from the gum line and the root is not located close to major nerves, you may need a simple extraction performed under local anesthesia.
However, if the tooth is impacted and pressing on the sinus, your dentist will perform a complex extraction. A complex extraction is done under sedation or general anesthesia.
Your dentist needs to incise the gum tissue to expose the bone and may need to remove a layer of bone that has formed over the impacted tooth. The dentist may need to section the tooth before removing it in some cases.
After surgery, your dentist sutures the socket closed and packs the area with gauze. Ensure you follow your dentist’s post-op instructions for a faster recovery.
Is There a Risk of Post-Surgical Complications?
There is a small risk of complications during or after the procedure, as with any surgery. With maxillary wisdom tooth extraction, one complication is an oroantral fistula.
An oroantral fistula occurs when there is a blockage in the oral cavity and the maxillary sinus. The blockage can be caused by granulated tissue, surgical debris, or polyposis (excessive epithelial tissue growth). Symptoms of an oroantral fistula include:
- Bad breath
- A foul or salty taste in the mouth
- Voice alterations
- An inability to blow air to inflate the cheeks
- Liquids backflowing from the mouth into the nose
An oroantral fistula can be detected with Cone Beam Tomography or Computed Tomography and needs to be surgically closed.
Alleviate Sinus Pressure and Wisdom Tooth Pain at TruBlu Dentistry
Visit TruBlu Dentistry for a thorough oral health exam and wisdom tooth extraction to reduce the pressure on your sinuses so you can breathe easier and live life in better comfort.Contact our offices in Burbank: (708) 424-5650 or Hegewisch: (773) 646-4664 to schedule a consultation.