My wisdom tooth is out, I got a filling last year on it, and everything was fine until about a week ago, when my gums suddenly started to get swollen, behind and next to the tooth. I used to get this a lot when it was growing and I must say that sometimes I feel like it might still be growing. Anyway, my gums have been like this for a week now, the pain comes and goes. There's a hole between the actual tooth and the start of the swollen gums, which I tried to clean but there doesn't seem to be any food in. I thought it was going to heal 2 days ago but now its back. I try rinsing it with salt water, it relieves the pain for a bit but then it hurts again.

I'm not sure what I should be doing, since my dentist told me not to remove the tooth(it's growing just fine), but this REALLY hurts.

Sound like you have an infection that could progress into something a lot worse if you don't see your dentist soon.

Tick

It sounds like the tooth might have a cavity in it and the gum tissue is growing up over the back of the wisdom tooth. Definitely go see the dentist. He/she might be able to remove the tissue, fill the tooth and all will be good again.

Thanks for your answers. I went to the dentist and he gave me antibiotics and a mouthwash. He says that the tooth is fine, but there's a space between the tooth and the gyms that is filled with bacteria and that's what caused the swelling. I'm already feeling much better!

Perfect! I'm glad you got the help you needed.

Make sure you keep the area clean especially if you've eaten popcorn, whole grains or fibrous veggies like celery as these will get trapped in that space and cause the same problem again.