Pericoronitis is the most common problem associated with impacted wisdom teeth.  Pericoronitis is an infection of the soft tissue (gums) around a partially erupted wisdom tooth. It is commonly caused by either a bacterial infection from food impaction, or by repeated trauma to the tissue through chewing.
Antibiotics will address the immediate infection and soft tissue surgeries may temporized the situation, however pericoronitis will reoccur if the source of the problem remains untreated.  Typically, the most common treatment of pericoronitis is the extraction of the partially erupted wisdom tooth.