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For the most part, you’ll want to keep your natural teeth for as long as possible. However, there are some exceptions; certain teeth might end up doing more harm than good if they’re left alone. To be precise, wisdom teeth often must be extracted in order to stop oral pain and prevent damage to the rest of your teeth. Is there anyone in your family that’s around the age when wisdom teeth normally erupt? Now is probably the best time to contact Dr. Marable and talk about the process for wisdom tooth extractions in Fort Valley, GA.
Before we decide to extract your wisdom teeth, we need to evaluate them carefully to determine whether or not they’ll cause further damage later on. Generally speaking, they’ll need to be removed if they become impacted or partially impacted, meaning they become trapped under the gums and cannot erupt properly. Tooth impaction if often very painful and usually leads to oral health issues such as an increased risk of cavities or damage to the remaining teeth.
Typically, your wisdom teeth won’t start to erupt until long after all of your other teeth have already appeared in your mouth. This usually happens between the ages of 17 and 25. As such, it’s generally recommended to have an extraction performed around these ages. Generally speaking, it’s better to have the extraction done as early as possible before any permanent long-term damage is done. We can take X-rays of your mouth to determine the state of your wisdom teeth so that we can figure out the appropriate time for extraction.
As a matter of fact, there are times when wisdom teeth can be left alone and treated as if they were regular teeth. As long as there’s enough space in your mouth for the teeth to erupt properly, it’s safe to leave them in place. The catch is that you still have to be able to thoroughly brush and floss all of your teeth; if you can’t prevent cavities or gum disease from forming around your wisdom teeth, extraction might be the better option after all.
Ideally, we’ll be able to catch your wisdom teeth coming in with an X-ray so that we can start planning the extraction process sooner. However, there are some symptoms that will tell you if your wisdom teeth are already causing problems. These include:
First, we’ll numb your mouth and use dental sedation as appropriate to keep you calm and comfortable. During the procedure, the gum tissue is opened, and any bone that blocks access to the tooth is removed. The actual tooth might be divided into sections before being extracted. Afterwards, the site is cleaned to remove any debris. A piece of gauze is usually placed over the extraction site in order to stop the bleeding (as well as form a protective clot).
We’ll do everything we can to prevent you from feeling discomfort during the actual extraction process. Since your mouth will be numbed, you’ll feel little to no pain during the procedure itself. Furthermore, with an appropriate form of sedation, we can help you relax to the point where you may not even remember what happened during your visit. That said, you may experience mild discomfort after the extraction, but we can help you develop a strategy for dealing with it.
You’ll experience some swelling and mild discomfort for three days or more, and it may take a few weeks for your mouth to heal completely. To make the recovery process as comfortable as possible, use an ice pack to keep swelling under control, and stick to eating soft foods such as pasta or rice. (You can begin eating more solid foods as your mouth gradually recovers.) Continue to brush, but be careful that you don’t accidentally dislodge a blood clot with your toothbrush.