And the verdict is -

the tooth has got to go. Going on antibiotics this week, extraction next week. The, uh, the dentist was worried that if the painkillers didn't take I might react... badly.

This is not really a surprise. The wisdom tooth is wedged right in there, but for some reason it's always been the adult tooth next to the wisdom that had all the problems. One or the other had to go sooner or later anyway.