Wisdom Teeth

If you’re starting to experience pain or discomfort in the back of your mouth, and your oral health is intact for the most part, your wisdom teeth may be growing in.

Here is some information for caring for these teeth, as well as ways to deal with the pain of ‘adult teething.’

Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to grow into the adult mouth, so you could receive them between the ages of 17 and 25, which is commonly referred to as the Age of Wisdom.

Scientists believe that in ancient times, the wisdom teeth grew in much quicker, but since the diet has become much ‘softer’, it takes longer for these molars to grow in.

And also, due to the change in diet over time, it is believed that humans no longer require a third set of molars.

Consequently, the human jawbone has decreased in size so that most people lack the room in their mouths for their wisdom teeth.

When your wisdom teeth begin to grow in, they may or not be impacted or partially impacted, depending on the size of your jawbones.

Impacted means that they are not able to erupt through the bone and gums.

They are usually fully enclosed in bone and either pointing in the wrong direction or butting up against the root of the second molar.

Partially impacted teeth are only halfway protruding through the gums. These tend to be more problematic, due to increased difficulty with hygiene.

It is quite common these days for a young person to be referred from an Orthodontist to an Oral Surgeon for extraction of wisdom teeth.

This is because most Orthodontists believe the forces exerted by the erupting wisdom teeth on the second molars and other teeth causes tooth misalignment.

They feel that if the third molars are removed, then only the forces of orthodontics will be at work on the alignment of the teeth, and therefore make getting a perfect smile that much faster.

If you clearly don’t have the room in your mouth for wisdom teeth, dental professionals recommend that you have them removed before they start to cause problems.

Talk to your dentist about having this procedure done before you are thirty.

This will also ensure that your mouth will heal faster, and if you wait until you are older, you could be putting yourself at more risk for periodontal disease, decay or other problems.

The surgery may be done in the clinic under local anesthesia alone, or possibly in the operating room, under general anesthesia.

It depends on the difficulty of the case as well as your health and your desires.

Normally, all four wisdom teeth can be removed on an outpatient basis in a clinic, under IV sedation and local anesthesia.

With IV sedation, you are still conscious, but very comfortable.

When the procedure is done, a friend or relative drives you home to sleep it off.

After you have the surgery done to remove your wisdom teeth, you may experience some slight swelling and discomfort, but this is completely normal.

You can use a cold compress for the first 24 hours to help with the pain and inflammation, and your doctor will also prescribe medications that will help with the pain.

For more information on how to care for your wisdom teeth before they are removed, browse through some of our other articles or visit www.ada.org.

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