General dentistry

Reasons for surgery Through a person’s teens, 28 teeth are already grown and in place. This means that there might be just about no room left for the wisdom tooth to grow appropriately. With deficiency of space, the teeth either emerge at an angle or just get stuck. The impacted wisdom teeth that haven’t broken through the surface of the gum fully can cause severe dental difficulties. There are resulting pain, infection and cyst formations that lead to ultimately extracting the teeth.

Untreated wisdom teeth may lead to:

• - Damage to adjacent teeth
• - Pain
• - Infection
• - A fluid-filled sac or a cyst
• - Surrounding bone damage

Preparations and tests

• A dental x-ray of the wisdom teeth and the adjacent teeth is taken
• A thorough physical examination of the mouth and teeth are conducted
• Infection
• All medical and family history is collected
• If you are a smoker, cessation of smoking is advised

Procedure

The procedure for extraction of wisdom tooth lasts for about 30 to 60 minutes.

• Local anesthesia is administered – injections near the area of the surgery at the gums will numb it
• An incision in the gum exposes the tooth and the bone
• Any bone blocking the access to the tooth is also removed
• The area is cleaned of any debris after tooth is removed
• The wound is stitched close and gauze is placed on the area to control bleeding

Recovery

Slight bleeding might be experienced the first day and jaw may seem sore and swollen. A soft food diet is recommended for almost 3 days after the surgery. Normal activities can be resumed within 24 to 48 hours after the procedure. Oral antibiotics may be prescribed to aid the healing process.