Impacted Wisdom Tooth
A wisdom tooth is a type of molar(chewing teeth) found furthest in the back of the mouth. Eruption of these teeth occurs between age group of 18-25 years.
In most of the people, wisdom teeth do not erupt completely. The teeth either become stuck under the gum embedded in the jaw bone or are partially erupted at the wrong angle.
What are the complications of not removing an impacted tooth?
- Infection of the gum tissue
- Decay of the impacted tooth
- Food impaction- this tooth becomes difficult to clean and so food gets lodged between the impacted and the adjacent tooth resulting in decay of both the teeth
- Crowding- when impacted teeth try to erupt, they put pressure on the other teeth resulting in crowding of front teeth.
How are impacted wisdom teeth removed?
The site is first numbed. If the tooth is under the gums embedded into the jawbone, an incision is given into the gums and the portion of the bone covering the tooth is removed. Oftentimes the tooth is removed in small pieces rather than removed in one piece to minimize the bone removal. A stitch is given to avoid food lodgement and also to ease wound healing.
What are the instructions to be followed after tooth removal?
- To control bleeding bite on to a piece of cotton for an hour and avoid mouth rinsing
- To minimize swelling of the face keep an icepack on a schedule of 10 minutes
- Antibiotics and pain medication to be taken as prescribed by the dentist
- Eat soft foods for a few days
- Brush gently and use antiseptic mouth rinse
- After 1 week of extraction, stitch has to be removed