17 Mar Improve Oral Health With Wisdom Teeth Removal
Impacted wisdom teeth cause a variety of oral health issues that can cause significant consequences for patients. To avoid these issues, many patients opt to have impacted wisdom teeth extracted, often before they become symptomatic.
Your oral health will gain a number of benefits from wisdom tooth extraction. Because the extraction procedure is more complex with impacted teeth, patients often work with an oral surgeon to have their wisdom teeth removed.
Issues Associated With Impacted Wisdom Teeth
When the wisdom teeth fail to erupt properly, the patient faces an increased risk of a number of problems, including:
- Cysts
- Tumors
- Discomfort
- Infection
- Abscesses
- Misalignment of surrounding teeth
Keep in mind that impacted wisdom teeth are quite common, as human jaws have become smaller over time, limiting the amount of room the large third molars have to erupt properly. Therefore, many patients will face these increased risks.
How Your Oral Health Benefits From Wisdom Teeth Removal
Those issues listed above can affect your oral health in multiple ways. For example, bacteria can build up in the area of impacted wisdom teeth, which is quite difficult to keep clean. Those bacteria can ultimately cause a painful abscess or contribute to gum disease in the area.
When an oral surgeon extracts your wisdom teeth, you’ll be taking a major step toward eliminating such oral health issues. In fact, many people opt for a preventive wisdom tooth extraction so that they don’t have to suffer through any of the symptoms that go along with impacted wisdom teeth.
Because evidence that the wisdom teeth are impacted is apparent in patients as young as their mid-teens, it’s possible to have your wisdom teeth removed at a relatively early age. In fact, it’s recommended that patients pursue wisdom tooth extraction by their mid-twenties.
In older patients, the extraction procedure is more complex and the recovery period longer. While older patients can still have impacted wisdom teeth extracted, we strongly encourage you to schedule the procedure in your late teens or young adulthood.
Visit our office for an evaluation to see if your wisdom teeth might be impacted. If they are, we can work with you throughout the treatment process to minimize your oral health risks.