A quick exam will establish if the problem is indeed a wisdom tooth - not always the case! Next is to take an OPG which is an XRay that goes around your head and which will determine where the roots of the tooth go. This XRay enables us to decide whether we can take the tooth out at the Practice, preferred option as it is generally less expensive, or if the roots make extraction problematical and the domain of a specialist. Either way, we or the specialist will require the OPG XRay. If the tooth is severely inflamed, we need to stabilise this first prior to extraction. Warm salty water rinses always aid with drawing out the infection and so reducing pain caused by inflammation. Once a wisdom tooth "blows up" it tends to do so with increasing frequency. We always recommend their extraction as it is normally only a matter of time - and there is NEVER a good time!