🚽 Blocked stool 🦷 Blocked tooth 🧱 Pressed together 🔨 Forceful hit

impaction

7.9

A tooth stuck under the gums and blocked by another tooth or bone

noun
/ɪmˈpækʃən/

Specialized

: impactación dental

X-rays revealed the impaction that was preventing her tooth from erupting.

Examples

The dentist explained that my wisdom tooth impaction would require surgery.
Severe pain in the jaw can be caused by impaction of a molar.
The dentist diagnosed her with a tooth impaction.
Tooth impaction can lead to serious dental issues.
The dentist explained that her tooth had an impaction due to overcrowding from nearby teeth.
After examining the X-ray, the orthodontist noted a potential impaction of the wisdom teeth.
The patient was advised to monitor symptoms of impaction before proceeding with surgery.

Synonyms

impacted tooth

vsimpaction

Specialized

1 5.4

A tooth that cannot come through the gum because other teeth block it

is the condition of being blocked from erupting by surrounding teeth or bone

Compounds

fecal impaction

Specialized

7.9

A mass of hard stool stuck in the lower bowel that cannot be passed

How Blocked

impaction

Specialized

7.9

eruption

Specialized

1 5.8

toothed

1 3.7

Surface Forms

impaction singular

impactions plural

Morphology

impaction = impact (semi-transparent) = impact + ion

Derived from 'impact' + '-ion'; the dental meaning ('tooth prevented from emerging') is technical jargon and may not be obvious from everyday senses of 'impact'.

Etymology

Impaction comes from the word impact, where im- means 'in' and the rest came to mean 'to press or strike'. So a tooth impaction is a tooth that has been pushed in and blocked by other teeth or bone, which is why it cannot come through normally.