What is coronectomy?
A coronectomy is a procedure that involves removing the crown of a lower wisdom tooth while keeping the roots behind in the bone. When a lower wisdom tooth becomes impacted (growing either sideways, horizontally, diagonally, forwards or backwards) problems can occur for the gum and surrounding teeth.
Often, removal of the wisdom tooth is the best option to protect the region from infection and damage. However, lower wisdom teeth can lie extremely close to the inferior alveolar nerve. This nerve supplies the lower lip with sensory sensation. There is a risk of damaging this nerve when extracting a lower wisdom tooth.
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