Wisdom Teeth Removal
Wisdom tooth extraction is a surgical treatment that removes one or more wisdom teeth, which are the four permanent adult teeth positioned at the top and bottom back corners of your mouth.
If a wisdom tooth does not have enough capacity to grow (impacted wisdom tooth), causing discomfort, infection, or other dental problems, it will most likely need to be extracted. A dentist or an oral surgeon can do wisdom tooth extraction. Even if impacted teeth aren’t currently causing problems, some dentists and oral surgeons advocate wisdom tooth extraction to avoid potential future complications.
Why it is done?
Wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, are the last permanent teeth that emerge (appear) in the mouth. Between the ages of 17 and 25, these teeth normally develop. Some people do not get wisdom teeth. Others have wisdom teeth that erupt naturally, exactly like their other molars and create no complications.
Many people have impacted wisdom teeth, which are teeth that do not have enough room to erupt or develop appropriately. Wisdom teeth that are impacted may erupt only partially or not at all.
An impacted wisdom tooth can cause:
- Grow at an angle in the direction of the next tooth (second molar)
- Grow at a 45-degree angle toward the back of the mouth
- Wisdom teeth grow at a right angle to the other teeth, as though they are “lying down” within the jawbone.
- Like other teeth, they grow straight up and down but remain locked within the jawbone.
Problems with impacted wisdom teeth
You’ll likely need your impacted wisdom tooth pulled if it results in problems such as:
- Pain
- Food and debris are being trapped behind the wisdom tooth.
- Infection or periodontal disease (periodontal disease)
- Wisdom tooth decay
- Injury to an adjacent tooth or bone
- A fluid-filled sac (cyst) develops around the wisdom teeth.
- Complications with other teeth-straightening orthodontic treatments
Procedure
Depending on the predicted intricacy of the wisdom teeth extraction and your level of comfort, your dentist or oral surgeon may employ one of three types of anesthesia. Among the options are:
- Local anesthesia is administered by your dentist or oral surgeon via one or more injections near the site of each extraction. Your dentist or surgeon will most likely numb your gums before administering the injection. During the tooth extraction, you are awake. Although you will feel pressure and movement, you should not feel discomfort.
- Sedation anesthesia: Through an intravenous (IV) line in your arm, your oral surgeon or dentist administers sedative anesthesia to you. During the surgery, sedation anesthetic subdues your consciousness. You won’t remember much of the process and won’t experience any pain. Additionally, you’ll get local anesthesia to make your gums numb.
- General anesthesia: You might be given general anesthesia in certain circumstances. You could either have an IV line in your arm or inhale medication through your nose. You subsequently go unconscious. Your medication, breathing, temperature, fluid intake, and blood pressure are all closely monitored by your surgical team. You won’t feel any pain and won’t remember the procedure. Additionally, local anesthesia is administered to ease discomfort following surgery.