IMPACTED WISDOM TEETH
Impacted wisdom teeth and problems, which are a common and feared discomfort, are treated in the shortest possible time, smoothly and successfully thanks to the most advanced techniques and applications of our specialist dentists.
A brief look at common wisdom tooth problems in dentistry and when necessary intervention is required will be useful in this regard.
Wisdom Teeth, 3. wisdom teeth are the molars (the largest of the molars) that are located at the back of the jaws. These teeth are the last teeth to erupt in the mouth and take their place in the mouth between the ages of 18-24. But they usually don’t grow or remain impacted until older ages. For many people, impacted wisdom teeth are synonymous with unexpected discomfort. The main reason why your wisdom teeth are a problem is that they are not needed genetically anymore; your wisdom teeth have difficulty locating and cannot erupt.
These impacted teeth often cause complaints such as pain around the tooth, ear pain, difficulty in opening the mouth. Sometimes they can form cysts around them and sometimes they can lead to decay of the front tooth. Because of their location in the back, this area cannot be cleaned well by patients and can cause inflammation in the gums. Antibiotics can treat these symptoms, but they often reoccur.
The wisdom teeth, which are in contact with the oral cavity, are sometimes fully or partially visible in the mouth. Pain can sometimes be combined with a bad taste and secretions. These teeth are usually extremely painful to erupt and take a long time to erupt completely. Painkillers, antibiotics and mouthwash with warm salt water can usually help to control the problem. They are not always problematic, but they often cause swelling, sensitivity, pain, limited mouth opening, bad breath and bad taste.
Extraction of Impacted Wisdom Teeth is necessary in the next cases:
- Caries: Since wisdom teeth are positioned too far back and usually do not erupt in the proper direction, they are more difficult to clean and maintain and therefore easier to decay. Once these teeth have decayed, they are difficult to treat because they are located too far back. In addition, root canal treatment cannot be applied in most cases due to root canal structures that are very different from other teeth.
- Infection: Under the gums, there is a protective membrane called a gingival follicle for the erupting wisdom teeth. Infection can occur here when tooth trying to get erupt. As a result of infection, the gums may become red and swollen and painful. Infection causes bad taste and breath smell in the mouth. In addition, when wisdom teeth are partially impacted, inflammation of the surrounding gingiva (pericoronitis) caused by bacteria accumulated between the overlying gum. During this time, swelling of the face, difficulty opening the mouth, pain, bad breath, swollen lymph nodes and fever may occur.
- Pain: Pain may occur as a result of pressure from an erupting wisdom tooth. Infection can also cause pain. In addition, when wisdom teeth will not erupt in their normal position, they can cause pain with the pressure they cause on the neighboring teeth.
- Cyst: If the wisdom tooth will not removed, a cyst may form around the tooth. In some cases, although the patient has no symptoms, serious cases of cysts caused by impacted wisdom teeth are seen on X-rays. Cysts cause damage to bone and other teeth and gums.
- Damage to the Front Tooth: Since wisdom teeth usually cannot erupt in the proper position, they can cause material loss and caries in the neighboring tooth by accumulation of food residues around them or by the pressure they exert on the next molar. Wisdom teeth that have the potential to cause damage in this way should be extracted.
- Crowding of the Front Teeth: When wisdom teeth cannot erupt in a normal position, they can cause mobility in other teeth due to the pressure they exert on the teeth during eruption and can cause crowding in the tooth row. Extraction of wisdom teeth is recommended to prevent crowding, especially after orthodontic treatment.
- Food Burial: Since wisdom teeth are located very far back in the mouth, they are very difficult to clean. Both the brush cannot reach that area and it can cause nausea. Gum disease and caries are also likely to occur due to cleaning problems. In this case it’s the tooth that matters 1. and 2. the big molars. Wisdom teeth can be extracted if 1. and 2. molars will be infected by caries.
- Cheek Biting; Although not very common but wisdom teeth can cause complaints of cheek biting and mucosal injury for patients because they cannot erupt in the normal position. In such cases, it is appropriate to remove the wisdom teeth as they are already not functioning normally.
- Tumor formation; Although rare but jaw tumors can occur around impacted teeth.
- Interference with Another Surgical Procedure; In jaw fractures if the tooth is above the fracture line it may need to be extracted. In addition, extraction of impacted teeth may be necessitated in orthognathic (jaw correction surgery) surgical procedures.