It is very rare for a person to have sufficient space for all of their wisdom teeth. This lack of space can make the wisdom teeth become impacted. Your other teeth might then get pushed forward, creating space for food to get stuck. It could also increase your chances of infection and decay.

This is why we recommend that our patients have their wisdom teeth removed. At Alencar Family Dentistry, we could examine you, take X-rays, and let you know if and when you should undergo your extraction procedure.

Why Should Wisdom Teeth Be Extracted?

Impacted wisdom teeth should be extracted before their root structure is fully developed. In some patients, the wisdom teeth may start erupting as early as 12 or 13 years of age. While in others, it may not be until their early twenties. Problems tend to increase after the age of 30.

Some of the problems linked to not removing your wisdom teeth include:

Wisdom teeth could erupt misaligned or sideways and cause increasing pain.
They will put extra pressure on the nerves and bone, leading to the crowding of the surrounding teeth.
As wisdom teeth begin to sprout, bacteria could enter through the open tissue and cause infection.
The wisdom teeth also become impacted, a condition in which the jaw bone or neighboring teeth block the teeth from erupting normally. These impacted teeth can also cause severe pain inside the mouth, infection, and other difficulties.
Foul breath, awful taste upon chewing food, redness, and swelling.
Cyst formation and, in rare cases, tumors.

When Should Wisdom Teeth Be Removed?

We recommend that wisdom teeth be extracted in the teenage years or early twenties. As wisdom teeth start to grow, the roots become longer and the jaw bone denser. When it becomes necessary to remove impacted wisdom teeth in your later years, the post-operative care can get extended and complications could occur. Treating these complications is often more challenging and less predictable than with a younger patient. Healing may be slower, and the likelihood of infection will increase.

What Is the Procedure for Wisdom Tooth Extraction?

Wisdom teeth extraction is generally performed under local anesthesia by a dentist or oral surgeon. Wisdom teeth are extracted as if they were any other tooth if they have already erupted through the surface of the gums. However, impacted wisdom teeth can be a little trickier to remove.

To remove an impacted tooth, an incision is made along the gum's surface above the tooth. Next, any bone that blocks the tooth is removed, and then the tooth itself is pulled out. At times, we will have to break the tooth into several small pieces to save as much bone as possible and avoid needlessly cutting bone or risking nerves and delicate tissues.

To learn more about wisdom teeth extraction, call us at Alencar Family Dentistry, phone no. (757) 546-0301, or email us at joliveira@alencarfamilydentistry.com.