Wisdom Teeth
If your wisdom teeth are causing problems, you may have symptoms such as:
- Pain or jaw stiffness near an impacted tooth.
- Pain or irritation from a tooth coming in at an awkward angle and rubbing against your cheek, tongue, or top or bottom of your mouth.
- An infected swelling in the flap of gum tissue that has formed on top of an impacted tooth that has broken partway through the gum.
- Crowding of other teeth.
- Tooth decay or gum disease if there isn’t enough room to properly clean your wisdom tooth and nearby teeth.
Problems with wisdom teeth often arise around the ages of 15 and 25 or even later. Your dentist will check for signs of wisdom teeth coming through your gum or crowding other teeth. You will need to have X-rays to find out if your wisdom teeth are causing problems now or are likely to cause problems in the future.
What are my options for treatment?
Wisdom teeth that are causing problems should be removed. This can be done in the Dental Surgery by an experienced dentist using local anaesthetic, patients may chose to use a oral sedative ( Valium ) to help relax them during the procedure.
The Dentist will open the gum tissue over the tooth if needed and remove the tooth. Sometimes a tooth will be cut into smaller pieces to make it easier to take out. After the tooth is removed, you may need stitches.
If you have an infection, we may need to treat the infection before you have your wisdom teeth removed. The Dentist may prescribe antibiotics to help clear up the infection.