Impacted Wisdom Teeth – Marietta, OH
Gentle Extractions from a Skilled Surgeon
Whether or not your wisdom teeth need to be removed depends largely on the size of your mouth. If there’s not enough space, your wisdom teeth won’t be able to grow in properly, and that can easily lead to impaction. While you can’t prevent this condition from happening on your own, you can turn to a skilled oral surgeon such as Dr. Lee to stop the pain and prevent further oral health issues. If you or a loved one is around the age where impacted wisdom teeth are normally removed, call us today to schedule an appointment at Muskingum Valley Oral Surgery so that we can help you figure out whether an extraction will be necessary.
What Does It Mean If Wisdom Teeth are Impacted?
The wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, erupt much later than the rest of your teeth; in fact, they usually don’t appear until between the ages of 17 and 25. At that point, there might not be sufficient room to accommodate them, causing them to instead become trapped between the gum tissue and the jawbone. There are many different kinds of impaction, including stuck under the gums, partially stuck under the bone, and completely stuck in the jaw. Since the wisdom teeth serve no real purpose when it comes to speaking or eating today, they can easily be removed without causing long-term issues. In fact, extracting an impacted wisdom tooth is especially important for keeping your mouth healthy. If left alone, they could damage the roots of your other teeth, and they could even lead to an oral infection; that’s why it’s often better to remove them before they have a chance to cause any permanent damage.
Impacted Wisdom Teeth Symptoms
It’s often impossible to ignore wisdom teeth that have become infected. You may notice jaw pain as well as tenderness, redness, and swelling of the gums around the area. Sometimes a cyst or even a tumor could form; these growths could cause permanent damage to the jaw or the rest of your teeth. Of course, by itself the pain doesn’t necessarily mean the wisdom teeth are impacted. We’ll need to carefully examine your mouth before we can make that diagnosis.
Infection is another possible sign of a wisdom tooth infection. Over time, bacteria could enter the open tissue, attacking the bone underneath. These infections can spread to the rest of your mouth. They’re also thought to have an impact on your overall health since the bacteria can enter the bloodstream and cause inflammation in other parts of the body.
How Wisdom Teeth are Removed
Local anesthetic and appropriate sedation are applied to make the procedure as relaxing as possible. To remove an impacted tooth, we’ll need to open your gums and possibly remove some bone. Then we can begin the process of extracting the tooth itself. In some cases, that might mean dividing the tooth into sections that will be taken out separately. Afterwards, we’ll pack the area with gauze to control the bleeding and give you clear instructions for aftercare.