Wise up about Wisdom Teeth
Are your gums feeling tender or swollen in the rear of your jaw? Your wisdom teeth just might be the cause of that irritation.
County Dental at Suffern will provide you with the knowledge you need to know about wisdom teeth, and how to avoid the complications they cause.
What are Wisdom Teeth?
A wisdom tooth is one of the four third molars that erupt between the ages of 16 and 35. These teeth are located in the back of the jaw. Two on top, two on the bottom. Wisdom teeth are often misaligned and require removal by an oral surgeon.
How Do I Know if My Wisdom Teeth are Misaligned?
When wisdom teeth are misaligned, they may position themselves horizontally, be angled toward or away from the second molars, or be angled inward or outward.
Poor wisdom tooth alignment can lead to:
- Crowding
- Damage to adjacent teeth
- Damage to jawbone
- Damage to nerves
What is an Impacted Wisdom Tooth?
County Dental can examine your jaw from an x-ray and be able to tell you if your teeth are impacted. Impacted teeth are enclosed within the soft tissue and/or the jawbone or only partially break through or erupt through the gum. Partial eruption of the wisdom teeth allows an opening for harmful bacteria to enter around the tooth and cause an infection.
Results of impacted/partially erupted wisdom teeth are:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Jaw stiffness
- General illness
- Increased risk of tooth decay
- Increased chance of gum disease (due to brushing and flossing difficulty)
What To Do if You Have Impacted of Misaligned Wisdom Teeth
Our oral surgeon at County Dental at Suffern may recommend that your wisdom teeth be extracted while they are still below the gum line to prevent problems from developing in your jaw. By getting an extraction at the first sign of an impacted or misaligned wisdom tooth, you can avoid a more painful and complicated extraction later on.
Removing the impacted tooth is easier for young people, when the wisdom teeth roots are not yet fully developed and the bone is less dense. The recovery time tends to be longer in older people.
County Dental at Suffern will always continue to provide their patients with answers to all of their oral healthcare questions. If you think you may have impacted wisdom teeth, come and visit our oral surgeon. We have specialists available five days a week to make more appointments available to you. Once we review your x-rays, proper treatment can be administered. Call us at (845) 356-8844 or contact us online to schedule your consultation today.
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