Health

Do You Really Need Your Wisdom Tooth Removed?

Wisdom teeth refer to a set of teeth that grow at the back part of a person’s gums. This is the last set of teeth that come through your gums. The majority of people has 4 wisdom teeth. Each one is visible in each corner. These frequently appear on your gums after reaching your early twenties or late teens. During this period, the 28 adult teeth that a normal and healthy person has are already on their place. This results to having insufficient amount of room for the proper growth of the wisdom teeth.

When this happens, the removal of the newly developed teeth is often necessary. This especially holds true if the lack of space causes the wisdom tooth to get stuck, emerge partially or emerge at an angle. These consequences often result to pain and discomfort. A wisdom tooth that grows in the mentioned ways is also called impacted, which requires removal especially if it starts to cause pain, inflammation and discomfort in your gums and entire mouth.


What are Impacted Wisdom Teeth?

Impacted wisdom teeth refer to teeth enclosed inside soft tissues or your jawbone. These also refer to teeth that have only partially erupted through your gums. They often need to be removed because they can trigger dental problems. Note that the partial eruption of your wisdom tooth can trigger openings for bacteria that might enter your entire set of teeth and trigger infections. This often leads to pain, jaw stiffness, dental illness and swelling.

There are also instances when bacteria and food get trapped around your wisdom tooth’s edge. This triggers the buildup of plaque that can further result to gum diseases and tooth decay. Partially erupted or impacted tooth is also susceptible to gum diseases and decay because the fact that it is in an awkward position, and very hard to reach makes the process of flossing and brushing it difficult.

If you have impacted teeth that do not cause problems, then rest assured that they do not require instant removal. It is because the removal of an impacted tooth, which does not trigger any problem at all, has no proven benefits and can only cause complications. The removal of your wisdom tooth is not usually necessary if it is healthy, grows in the right position, has completely grown or fully erupted and bites properly with its opposite tooth. The removal is not also necessary if cleaning it as part of your daily oral and dental hygiene practices is not a problem.

How to Determine if the Removal of your Wisdom Tooth is Necessary?

Visiting your dentist on a regular basis is necessary if you want to determine if the removal of your wisdom tooth is already essential. This involves asking the practitioner if the tooth is on its correct position. In this case, your dentist may perform an X-ray to assess the alignment and presence of the tooth. It is also up to your dentist to decide whether sending you to an oral surgeon is already important for further evaluation.

The recommendation of your oral surgeon or dentist will usually be directed towards extracting the tooth before it causes the development of dental problems. The dental professional will recommend this as a means of preventing a more complicated and painful extraction process. The good news is that the extraction process will be easy in young people since this means that the roots of the wisdom teeth, have not reached their full development yet.

The bones in young people are also less dense than adults. This makes it easy to remove the problem. In adults, the healing and recovery period will also be longer than the young ones. However, with proper care, rapid healing can still be achieved.

If you have any questions, please ask below!