Wisdom Tooth Extraction: Alleviate Pain and Prevent Future Problems

• Tooth Decay

As your wisdom teeth are so far back in your mouth, they are often difficult to keep clean, accumulating plaque and food particles. If this occurs for a prolonged period, both your wisdom tooth and surrounding teeth can start decaying.

This is especially unfortunate as it can ultimately result in you having to lose both these teeth. Therefore it is advisable to remove your wisdom teeth sooner rather than later to prevent this from happening.

• Gum Disease

The gums surrounding your wisdom teeth may also become inflamed due to the same reason of prolonged plaque and food particle accumulation. This is especially the case in improperly-erupted wisdom teeth. 

As a result, pain, bad breath, and swelling can follow. In severe cases, this can be accompanied by gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis. These are serious issues that may require immediate medical attention.

• Teeth Crowding

If your wisdom teeth erupt in a misaligned manner, they can push the rest of your other teeth in front into disarray. This causes them to be malpositioned, which can negatively impact your appearance, bite, speech and oral hygiene.

For patients who have invested in orthodontics treatment, the work done can be reversed, causing teeth to shift or crowd again.

• Cysts

In a minority of cases, cysts or tumours can form around an impacted wisdom tooth. If these are left to fester, they can destroy your surrounding jaw bone and infect neighbouring teeth, rendering the need for complex and extensive treatment.

• Due to the nature of the procedure, there may be facial swelling, discolouration of the overlying skin, pain, and jaw stiffness for up to 2 weeks after, so there may be a need to take time off from work or school. The symptoms are usually worse for the first three days and will gradually enhance.
• During the surgery, there is a small risk of accidental damage to your adjacent teeth and jaw. However, this is very unlikely under the meticulous hands of our providers.
• In some cases, after the procedure, the area may become infected or inflamed. The risk of this can be significantly reduced with strict adherence to the post-operative care instructions we provide.
• There may be a possible risk of temporary or permanent altered sensations to your lower lip, cheek, or tongue from the removal of lower wisdom teeth. This risk varies according to the proximity of your wisdom tooth to your nerves. Your dentist will discuss this thoroughly with you during your initial consultation, with the help of an X-ray or Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scan.