Four Reasons Why Your Wisdom Teeth May Need to Come Out
Wisdom teeth are the third molars located at the back of your jaw that often need to be extracted. Many people do not realize that these teeth can remain intact as long as you do not have any complications. Running into these four problems will result in needing to have your wisdom teeth removed.
Impacted Wisdom Teeth
If there is not enough room for your wisdom teeth to grow in your mouth, chances are they will become impacted. This is when the tooth grows in at an odd angle that will cause it to eventually collide with another tooth in your mouth. The impaction can happen after the tooth breaks the surface of the gums, or underneath the surface.
Not only can impacted wisdom teeth put the health of other teeth at risk, but it will cause difficulty when chewing food, create swelling, and cause pain.
Infections
Once the wisdom tooth emerges from beneath your gums the slightest amount, it will put the area at risk for becoming infected. Your rear molars are used for most of your chewing, and food can become stuck in the small hole and cause an infection.
Infections can eventually cause swelling, pain, muscle spasms, or cysts to form in the area where the tooth emerged.
Tooth Decay
Your wisdom teeth may have had no problems when they came in, but leaving the tooth in place runs the risk of tooth decaying over time. This is why wisdom teeth are hard to keep clean due to the placement in your mouth. You may not be able to brush directly behind your tooth, causing cavities to form. It may be more difficult to floss as well if the teeth are very close to others.
The placement of wisdom teeth will also make it difficult to perform dental work such as filling a cavity. If you have multiple cavities that cannot be filled because of where they are located., you will be better off pulling the tooth.
Adjacent Teeth Damage
Since your wisdom teeth can cause your mouth to become very crowded, it's possible that a wisdom tooth can cause damage to an adjacent tooth. You run the risk of having your orthodontic work ruined by leaving the wisdom tooth where it is in your mouth due to a slow and gradual misalignment.
Unfortunately, most people don't realize they have these problems until they visit a dentist. Many of the complications can be found by taking an X-ray to see what is happening underneath your gums. For more information, visit dental sites like http://www.pldduluth.com/.
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