What does penicillin do for wisdom teeth?

Are you experiencing excruciating pain in your wisdom teeth? Fear not! The solution is here, and it comes in the form of penicillin. If you are wondering what role this miracle drug plays in treating your impacted or infected wisdom teeth, read on.

Understanding Wisdom Teeth

Before we dive into how penicillin can help with wisdom tooth problems, let us first understand what wisdom teeth are (and why they suck).

Wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, usually appear between the ages of 17-25 years old. Some people never develop them at all – lucky them! However, these pesky little things can cause trouble when they start pushing up against adjacent nerves or gums.

The reason why most humans experience discomfort during a wisdom tooth eruption is that our jaws have evolved to be smaller over time (thanks evolution!) due to changes in our diet and lifestyle. As a result, modern humans often do not have enough space for their third molars to grow properly leading to infection due to bacteria trapped behind partially erupted teeth which causes swelling of surrounding tissues resulting in excruciating pain that may spread throughout the jawbones and neck.

What Is Penicillin?

If you walked up to a random stranger on the street and asked them “What’s penicillin?” chances are their response will involve words like ‘antibiotic’, maybe even ‘mold’. They’re probably right!

Penicillin refers specifically to an antibiotic derived from certain types of mold called Penicillium fungi which work by stopping bacterial growth or sometimes killing specific species outright – pretty cool stuff if you think about it! It was discovered by Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming back around 1928 who later went on to win the Nobel Prize for medicine thanks partly because he observed workers in his lab discarding molds contaminated with Staphylococcus bacteria which couldn’t grow around the mold due to antimicrobial agents produced by the Penicillium.

How Does Penicillin Help With Wisdom Teeth Problems?

When a dentist observes symptoms of an infection or inflammation in your wisdom teeth, they will usually prescribe penicillin as part of your treatment. Once ingested into your body, penicillin begins working immediately to destroy the infective bacteria and minimize inflammatory symptoms like pain, swelling or redness caused by infections (it knows exactly what to do).

One downside is that not all bacterial species are equally sensitive to this drug – there has been increasing selective pressure from its widespread use over time restricting their usefulness especially against pathogens with plasmid-borne resistance genes but so far it remains an effective first-line therapy if taken correctly according pre-determined dosage guidance (usually for 7-10 days) – this ensures that enough antibiotics get into bloodstream for them work effectively creating optimum conditions needed killing off any bad bugs lurking inside culminating (tricky word) in reduced tooth ache experience.

In some cases where the dental condition is more severe than anticipated / recurrent after completion course of antibiotics repeat prescription may be offered alongside management plan e.g re-evaluation pain & infection control measures before carrying out surgical extraction most commonly used if less invasive options such as X-ray-guided drainage tubes (mouth tubes sounds weird) have failed.
Another benefit is that because penicillin works specifically on bacterial infections, you won’t suffer any unwanted side effects common with other types of medications like painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs (no grumpiness here guys and gals). It can also prevent further spread throughout mouth/tooth pulp beds preventing serious long-term complications including hospitalization whereby one would require emergency oral surgery!

Using Penicillin Safely

As with any medication, there are certain precautions you should take when using penicillin:

Allergies

Some people are allergic to penicillin (uh-oh). If you have had an allergic reaction before or if you have a history of asthma, it is important that you let your dentist know prior to taking this medication.

Interactions with Other Medications

Penicillin can interact with other medications such as blood thinners, oral contraceptives, and antacids that contain aluminum salts which may reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics. Therefore (fancy term) it is important not only make sure that any prescribed drug combinations taken do not interfere negatively but also take advice on when best time separate administration of each dose e.g two-hour window either side applying appropriate safety measures such using alternative methods contraception techniques during course treatment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Penicillin does wonders for wisdom teeth by decreasing symptoms resulting from trapped infection around tooth area causing inflammation/swelling and consequent discomfort helps minimize chances spreading said infections dental setting/whole body system – so long story short: see your dentist! While using penicillin care should be taken in order ensure optimum functionality avoiding bad interactions including following recommendation about frequencies has been laid down doctors/dentists relative given regime correctly promoting faster relieving results (smiling never felt better) making sure one keeps smiling throughout their recovery process thanks ultimately antimicrobial agents produced by those friendly fungi (even mold got our backs!) we now call Penicillium.

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