Can Wisdom Teeth Cause a Sore Throat?

Can Wisdom Teeth Cause a Sore Throat?

A sore is a common illness that can occur at any age. It also sometimes appears as a first sign of another disease, like a cold, flu, or mononucleosis. Children under 2 years usually don’t complain about a sore throat.

You can also identify a sore throat in young children if they don’t want their favorite foods or start crying during feeding. Many factors, including bacterial infections in the mouth, cause sore throat.

For instance, an abscessed tooth can cause bacterial infection in the mouth and significant pain leading to a sore throat. Fortunately, a child can quickly recover from a sore throat illness with proper and timely care.

If you or your child has a sore throat, consider visiting a trusted urgent care center for quality care and treatment.

Here’s what you need to know.

How Does Wisdom Teeth Cause a Sore Throat?

When a wisdom tooth fails to erupt fully, it becomes prone to infections. The gap holds food particles and plaque conducive to bacteria build-up on the gum flap. It is also challenging to clean impacted wisdom teeth, making them prone to infections.

Impacted wisdom teeth may also cause and spread bacteria around the mouth, leading to a sore throat. Lastly, wisdom is very close to the rear of the mouth, explaining why a child may experience a sore throat if one or more teeth have an infection.

Symptoms of Sore Throat

Symptoms of sore throat may vary based on the cause; however, look out for the following signs:

• Difficulty swallowing
• Pains that worsen after swallowing
• Sore or swollen glands in the neck or jaw region
• White patch or pus in the tonsils
• Pain in the throat

What Causes Sore Throat?

Viral Infections

Several viral infections can cause sore throats, including the common cold, flu, COVID-19, mononucleosis, measles, and chickenpox. If a viral infection causes a sore throat, your child will develop cold-like symptoms, including coughing, runny nose, and visible swelling.

Bacterial Infections

Strep throat is a bacterial sore throat, usually caused by streptococcus bacteria. Unfortunately, it is contagious and spreads through the air—e.g., when someone coughs or on a surface that someone has touched with bacteria.

Sore throat caused by bacteria has symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, stomach ache, and mostly no cough.

Other Causes

• Allergies: Your child can develop a sore throat if allergic to pet dander, mold, dust, and pollen. The sore throat worsens due to post-nasal drip, which may irritate or inflame the throat.
• Irritants: You may also develop a sore throat from indoor and outdoor air pollutants such as tobacco, smoke, or chemicals.
• Muscle Strain: Your child may also develop a sore throat if your child strains your muscle through yelling, talking loudly, or talking for long periods without rest.
• HIV Infection: A sore throat and other flu-like symptoms also appear in people with HIV.
• Abscess Tonsil: If you have a bacterial infection on your tonsil, it can spread to surrounding areas. As a result, you may have trouble swallowing, fever, and one-sided throat pain. It’s also difficult to fully open your mouth.

Home Care for Sore Throats

• Take warm liquids
• Gargle with saltwater
• Take throat lozenges for kids—4 years and older
• Get plenty of sleep
• Stay hydrated and avoid caffeine

Prevention of Sore Throats

The best way to prevent sore throat is to avoid contact with viruses and bacteria that cause the infection. Practicing good hygiene is also helpful.

Here are a few preventive tips you can teach your child:

• Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently after visiting the toilet, eating, and sneezing or coughing.
• Avoid sharing food and drinking utensils
• Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes
• Regularly disinfect your phone, light switches, door knobs, remotes, and computer keyboards.
• Avoid close contact with people who have sore throats
• Avoid touching public phones or drinking directly from a public tap

Treatment of Sore Throat

A sore throat caused by a viral infection lasts five to seven days and rarely requires medical treatment. Consider giving your child pain medication as directed by a physician, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to ease pain and fever.

An antibiotic medication doesn’t help sore throat caused by viral infection. A doctor will prescribe antibiotics if a bacterial infection is the cause of your sore throat. Take the entire sore throat medication as advised, even if the symptoms have disappeared

If you don’t take the medication as prescribed, the infection may worsen or spread to other body parts. Moreover, failure to take the full dose increases the risk of contracting rheumatic fever or kidney inflammation.

When to Visit an Urgent Care Center

Take your child to a doctor if sore throat symptoms do not disappear after the first drink in the morning. See a doctor if your child has painful throat symptoms and is under 2 years old.

It’s also important to contact a doctor within 24 hours if you notice the following symptoms:

• Fever that lasts more than 3 days
• A severe sore throat whose pain doesn’t lapse after taking ibuprofen
• A widespread pink rash
• Sinus pain around eyes or cheekbone
• If you had close contact with someone who had strep throat in the last 7 days

Seek emergency care if your child has the following symptoms:

• Difficulty breathing
• A child can’t open the mouth all the way
• Fever above 40° C
• Suspected dehydration— no urination in the last 8 hours, dry mouth, and no tears
• Stiff neck or can’t move the neck normally
• Your child acts or looks sick

Act Fast for Your Child’s Comfort: Visit Lifeline Urgent Care Center for Fast and Effective Treatment

When a child gets a sore throat, they experience pain or discomfort in the throat. It also becomes worse when they swallow. Infections that cause sore throat contribute to other symptoms such as fever, body aches, headache, or vomiting.

It, therefore, highlights the need to visit an urgent care center to receive timely and quality care.

At Lifeline Urgent Care Center, we open up late evenings and on weekends, making us an ideal solution for emergency sore throat symptoms.

Contact us online or call us at 281.771.1144 to book an appointment.