Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to emerge. They are commonly known as the third and fourth molars in your mouth. They are called wisdom teeth because they do not emerge until you are in your later teens or early twenties. Impacted wisdom teeth are these molars that do not have enough room to grow normally. They can easily become infected and cause many other dental issues. This is why many dentists will remove an impacted tooth whether it is infected or not.
Impacted wisdom teeth symptoms usually do not appear unless an infection occurs. When they become infected several symptoms will appear such as pain, red, swollen, or bleeding gums, jaw swelling, bad breath, headaches, or a bad taste in your mouth. If any of these symptoms appear you should go see a dentist right away as these are the key signs of infection. In many cases everyone will have impacted wisdom teeth because there is simply not enough room for them to grow in properly. There are different types of impacting such as partial or full. Partial is when a tooth erupts from the gum some. When this happens they usually grow at an angle towards the back of the mouth or towards other teeth. They can also remain in the gum and never erupt which is a full impact. They can also grow along the jaw bone or down into the jaw bone.
Ignoring this problem can cause several complications like damage to other teeth, cysts, decay, and gum disease. If the third molar pushes against the second molar it can cause pressure that will crowd all the other teeth together resulting in a need for braces, or it can make the second molar vulnerable to infection. Cysts can form from an infection in the sac that a tooth grows in, and since they are harder to clean it can cause decay and gum disease. Treatment for this issue is usually the removal of the teeth. This procedure is performed on outpatient conditions so you will go home the same day. There are two different types of sedation available. They can give you local anesthesia which will just numb the area during removal. They can also give you sedation which will make you go completely to sleep and you will not be aware the procedure is going on. A dentist or oral surgeon will make a small cut in the gum and remove any bone blocking the tooth as well as the tooth. They will then stitch up the wound and pack the empty socket with gauze. After that they send you home with instructions on how to care for the wound. There are rarely any complications with this type of surgery.
This type of procedure is common and dentists usually do every single day. Nearly all adults will have to have their wisdom teeth removed in their lifetime. Regular dental checkups can keep your mouth healthy as well as monitor your wisdom teeth’s growth progress. Oral surgery is usually not a comforting thought, but keeping up on dental health will make removing your wisdom teeth an easy procedure.
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