WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO REMOVE WISDOM TEETH?
An impacted wisdom tooth is one that fails to erupt into the dental arch within the expected time frame. The wisdom tooth becomes impacted because eruption is hindered by adjacent teeth, dense overlying bone, or excessive soft tissue. Because impacted wisdom teeth do not erupt, they are retained for the patient’s lifetime unless removed surgically.
Removing impacted teeth becomes more difficult with advancing age. Other dentists should not recommend that impacted wisdom teeth be left in place until they cause difficulty. If the tooth is left in place until problems arise, there is an increased incidence of local tissue morbidity, loss of adjacent teeth and bone, and potential injury to adjacent vital structures like nerves.
At Cloud Dental Center in St. Albans Vermont, near Burlington, we will make sure that the impacted wisdom teeth are removed before complications arise. There are many reasons that wisdom teeth should be removed:
▸ Prevention of periodontal disease (gum disease)
▸ Prevention of root resorption (loss of root structure from adjacent teeth)
▸ Prevention of dental cavities
▸ Prevention of pain of unexplained origin
▸ Prevention of odontogenic cysts and tumors
▸ Helping orthodontic treatment
▸ Periodontal healing (gum disease healing)
▸ Prevention of pericoronitis (infection of the soft tissue around crown of a partially impacted tooth and is caused by the normal flora or mouth bacteria)
Surgery is more likely to be complicated and hazardous if we deferred extraction of wisdom teeth until they cause problems later in life. A fundamental precept of the hilosophy of dentistry is that problems should be prevented.