What is an impacted wisdom tooth?
Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars that can erupt in the back of your mouth often during your late teens or early twenties. Often due to overcrowding, the wisdom teeth can erupt horizontally, or angled inwards, outwards or backwards. This can cause food and plaque to gather around the gum, which can lead to tooth decay or recurrent gum infections. It is difficult to reach wisdom teeth during regular brushing, so they are susceptible to bacterial infection.
What does treatment for impacted wisdom teeth involve?
If there are no signs of infection or any symptoms associated with the impacted wisdom tooth, then usually no treatment is necessary and the tooth can be monitored. If signs and symptoms of infection exist, then the type of procedure required varies from case to case. Sometimes, it can just be a simple surgical procedure to remove the wisdom tooth.
For the exact identification of the wisdom tooth relative to surrounding nerves, you may need a 3D CBCT Scan, which we can carry out for you on-site at Pearl Dental Clinic. Where the wisdom tooth is very close to the neighbouring nerve tissue, coronectomy is usually the best treatment.
Wisdom teeth are usually removed by our experienced dentists under local anaesthetic with sedation provided if necessary. After the procedure, some swelling and tenderness may be experienced in the region of the tooth extraction and we recommend a few days of rest after your impacted wisdom tooth has been taken out.
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