Impacted Wisdom Teeth
What are Impacted Teeth Treatments?
When a tooth is impacted, this simply means that it is stuck underneath the gums and unable to fully emerge, or erupt, on its own. The most common teeth to be impacted are the wisdom teeth. However, it's not uncommon for the upper canines to have trouble coming through the gums. For this reason, we offer proper impacted tooth treatment to ensure that impacted canines come down properly as well as wisdom teeth are removed.
Why are Impacted Teeth Treatments needed?
If left untreated, impacted teeth can eventually cause problems to your oral health. They may continually push against surrounding teeth, causing shifting and orthodontic problems. Likewise, the teeth themselves may become decayed and infected, causing a cyst or abscess to form. Removing impacted wisdom teeth and guiding impacted canines down into place will help to prevent these problems from happening.
Who is a candidate for Impacted Teeth Treatments?
To determine if you might need treatment for impacted teeth, we will examine your mouth and take x-rays. These x-rays can help us to get an idea of which teeth are impacted and the best way to go about removing them. If you have an impacted tooth, we will recommend having it treated as soon as possible to prevent future problems from developing. Treatment is ideal for patients of every age, and we'll go over your health and medical history to ensure you're healthy enough for oral surgery.
What happens during Impacted Teeth Treatments?
We first administer a local or general anesthetic to make the procedure comfortable for you. If a wisdom tooth is impacted, we will make a small incision through the gums to gain access to the tooth itself. It's removed and sutures are placed to close the gums. If a canine is left impacted and is not coming down when it should (around age 13), we will use special wiring and brackets to help pull the canine down and into its proper position. It is important that you have a relative or friend bring you home from the procedure. Important after care instructions help in promoting quick and even healing.
If you think you might need impacted teeth treatment, call our office today and we will be happy to get you in for an appointment.
