The Benefits of Removing Painful Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth are the third molars located right at the back of your mouth on the upper and lower jaw. They mostly grow out by the age of 17, although some people get theirs a couple of years later. Wisdom teeth that come out normally with proper positioning in the arch should be left untouched. If the teeth erupt abnormally though, they can be misaligned or impacted in the jaw. Wisdom teeth that have poor positioning may cause you many dental problems as you grow older.

Firstly, you might find it hard to brush your wisdom teeth if they’ve come out at a particular angle. Lack of good brushing can make them a breeding ground for bacteria. Secondly, if they aren’t perfectly aligned with the rest of the teeth in your mouth, you’ll have bite problems and issues with the teeth situated right next to your wisdom teeth. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to extract them as soon as they appear. The dentist will perform a thorough check to determine whether you’re an ideal candidate for wisdom tooth extraction or not.

Dealing with Painful Wisdom Teeth

Pain in the wisdom tooth can be a sign of

• Decay
• Cysts
• Infection
• Swelling
• Bone damage

If you’re tooth is sensitive to heat and it’s causing you excruciating pain, you must visit the dentist at the earliest opportunity to avoid further complications. After performing an oral examination and taking X-rays, your dentist might recommend wisdom tooth removal. This is especially true for patients whose wisdom teeth fail to offer a good bite and serve no purpose in chewing food. Impacted wisdom teeth that start aching should also be extracted because they’ll not only cause you trouble in the future but they’ll also damage neighbouring teeth.

Once extracted, you won’t have problems brushing your teeth located right at the back of your mouth. This will help you maintain better oral hygiene. You won’t have to worry about damaging the bone surrounding your decayed wisdom teeth and you’re mouth will feel less crowded than before.

Wisdom Tooth Extraction - What it Entails

After a careful look at the X-rays, the dentist will tell you how difficult it will be to remove the teeth. Impacted teeth can be trickier to remove than teeth that have grown out completely. Not all dentists perform wisdom teeth removal, so you might be referred to an oral surgeon for this procedure. If you’re in extreme pain, the dentist will prescribe a few pain killers along with antibiotics to cure the infection.

If you’re considering getting all 4 teeth pulled at once, you may choose to get the procedure done at the hospital under general anaesthesia. If not, you can take oral pain killers along with sedatives and local anaesthesia at the dentist’s office.

Preparing for the Surgery

Patients are advised not to eat any food after midnight, the night before the surgery. On the day of the surgery, the patient is given anaesthesia and the affected site is rendered numb. After this, the surgeon carefully opens gum tissue to reach the tooth and removes it using different tools. Stitches will be used to close the affected site and cotton gauze will be placed in the mouth to arrest bleeding.

Patients will be prescribed pain-killers to take in the days that follow the surgery. It’s very important to follow the surgeon’s instructions post-surgery in order to speed up healing.

Dental on Clarendon are the experts in the field of family dentistry. We are committed to offering you the best dental services at our state of the art office in South Melbourne. Visit us online or call us on 03 9690 3285.