Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars that usually doesn’t come in until a person’s teen years or early twenties. During your six-month dental appointments, our Elmhurst, NY, dentists Dr. B. K. Verma and Dr. Supriya Verma can continue to monitor their progress through x-rays. At times, these wisdom teeth do not grow in properly and will need to be removed.
What does an impacted wisdom tooth mean?
If your Elmhurst, NY, general dentist has told you that your wisdom teeth are impacted this means that there isn’t enough room for the tooth to grow in or that the tooth is growing in at an angle, which means that it won’t be able to fully erupt through the gums.
Do impacted wisdom teeth always need to come out?
You may be wondering whether you can just leave your impacted wisdom teeth rather than removing them. Impacted wisdom teeth can cause a host of problems for your oral health.
For one, since the tooth doesn’t fully emerge through the gums it leaves an opening where food and bacteria can easily get trapped, which can lead to inflammation, cavities, infection and bad breath. Secondly, if the tooth comes in at an angle it could damage other teeth around it and cause pain and permanent damage. When this happens surgery will be necessary in order to remove the impacted tooth to prevent problems from happening.
How are wisdom teeth removed?
If the wisdom teeth have fully erupted then we can perform a simple extraction to remove them; however, if the wisdom teeth are impacted then we will need to open up the gums and carefully remove the tooth. Both procedures can be performed right here in our office under local anesthesia.
Whether you are dealing with issues as a result of impacted wisdom teeth or you are wondering whether you should have your teeth removed, don’t hesitate to schedule a consultation with Family Dental Rego Park in Elmhurst, NY.