Comment by carpo

Haha, a valid concern. I had one other episode with about the same amount of pain a few years later. I was seeing a different dentist at the time who said there was an operculum (a flap of gum tissue) over one of my wisdom teeth that was inflamed. They cleaned it, explained how to keep it clean and said they'd only remove the tooth if it happened often as it was not impacting any other teeth, didn't have cavities and the root was very close to the nerve. I just make sure to clean that area really well.