Pericoronitis
The clinical signs and symptoms of pericoronitis include the following:
- 3rd molar areas (Mn)
- operculum à operculitis
- swelling –> tissue damage –> more swelling
- redness
- trismus
- dysphagia
- fever
- lymphadenopathy
Considerations in treating pericoronitis
- severity of inflammation
- systemic complications
- advisability of retaining the involved tooth (further eruption of the tooth and bone loss in the area)
- removing all pericoronal flaps
Treatment
- gently flush the area with warm water
- swabbing with antiseptic after elevating the flap
- use antibiotics in severe cases
- establish drainage
- DO NOT aggressively scale or root plane subginvally.
- If the tooth is to be retained, remove the pericoronal flap and apply periodontal pack (1 wk)
