When Impacted wisdom teeth need removal?

Wisdom teeth are the third molars. In our evolution the skull has increased and the jaws decreased in size . As a result some people never develop wisdom teeth while other people develop impacted wisdom teeth, since they don’t have enough room to erupt into the mouth or grow normally. An impacted wisdom tooth may grow at an angle toward the next tooth , at an angle toward the back of the mouth or “lying down” within the jawbone.
There are two way to deal with impacted wisdom teeth and Dr. Kaufman will discuss them with you when you come for the general exam. In general impacted wisdom teeth can either, be left in the jaw bone and monitored or they can be removed. There are advantages and disadvantages to each way and I will try to detail here some of them.
When monitoring the wisdom teeth we need to check that they do not cause a cavity or damage to the adjacent molar like in the in the image on the right. Some times their position can make it difficult to clean and lead to a gum disease or abscess. Due to the fore-mentioned problems, there is always a risk of an acute infection or abscess that will be painful and difficult to treat when wisdom teeth are kept in the jaw.
When teeth develop they are surrounded by supporting tissues who are not required once the tooth is mature. These tissues disappear as the tooth erupts normally into the mouth, but since for the impacted wisdom tooth this cannot occur, these tissues linger on and can give rise to cysts or tumors around the tooth. This is one of the reasons that Dr. Kaufman recommends to have a large x-ray every 2 years to see if any changes occur around the tooth.
Another consideration when leaving the wisdom teeth , is that older adults may experience difficulty with surgery and more complications after surgery.
On the other hand there are risks involved with the removal of wisdom teeth as well. Most wisdom tooth extractions don’t result in long-term complications. But some problems that can occur like a “dry socket”, a complication that delays healing and causes pain, an infection in the socket from bacteria or trapped food particles or damage to nerves that may results in altered sensation in the lower lip, tongue or chin.
Please call to make an appointment to have Dr. Kaufman look at your condition and provide you with specific advice.