No. If the tooth erupts fully, is functional, and stays disease-free, it may simply be monitored. But if it is repeatedly infected, badly positioned, damaging a neighbouring tooth, or impossible to keep clean, extraction is often the most predictable long-term solution.

Go for emergency care if you have trouble breathing, swallowing or speaking, swelling into the neck or around the eye, or severe difficulty opening your mouth. Those are the red flags most associated with serious spreading infection.

Usually not. ADA guidance says dentists should prioritise definitive dental treatment, and antibiotics are mainly for cases with systemic involvement or spreading infection. If pus, calculus, decay, or an impacted tooth remains, symptoms often return.

A mild flare can seem to calm down, but the underlying food trap or impaction often remains. NHS guidance on dental abscesses is very clear that an abscess will not go away on its own, and recurrent pericoronitis is common when the area remains hard [...]

Usually it feels like soreness or pressure behind the last molar that becomes more inflamed over time. Common clues are swollen or bleeding gums, jaw pain, a bad taste, bad breath, pain when chewing and difficulty opening your mouth.