A 40-year old male patient presents to the clinic in acute pain. While the dental assistant begins to take diagnostic radiographs the patient repeatedly dozes off. When you arrive to the operatory the patient finishes a conversation on the telephone then begins to hold his face reporting excruciating pain.
The patient’s wisdom tooth is partially impacted with no caries, no pathology, no inflammation of gingiva. As the patient begins to describe his symptoms, you notice some of his speech is slurred, and he becomes easily irritated with follow-up questions. When you begin your intraoral examination, the patient has poor oral hygiene with heavy plaque, heavy calculus build-up, and a poor odor. You decide to give the patient a prescription for Motrin 600mg and provide him with a referral to have the symptomatic tooth extracted at an oral surgeon’s office close to your location and schedule a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks.