What Is Involved In A Wisdom Tooth Extraction? 

Wisdom tooth extraction is a surgery that removes one or more of the four permanent adult teeth in the back corners of your mouth, on top and the bottom.

If a wisdom tooth doesn’t have enough room to grow, it’s called an “impacted wisdom tooth.” And It causes pain, an infection, or other dental problems. You’ll undoubtedly need to have it taken out. A dentist or an oral surgeon can take out your wisdom tooth.

Even if impacted teeth aren’t causing problems right now, some dentists and oral surgeons recommend taking them out to avoid problems in the future.

What Is A Wisdom Tooth And Why Does It Grow Impacted? 

Throughout your life, your mouth undergoes a variety of changes.  Your wisdom teeth or third molars typically erupt between the ages of 17 and 25. Because they grow later, these teeth have historically been referred to as wisdom teeth.

Healthy wisdom teeth might help in chewing when they erupt correctly. However, it’s common to experience some discomfort as your wisdom teeth erupt, but if you experience pain, contact your dentist immediately.

 Wisdom teeth can cause problems if they don’t have enough room to emerge or come in the wrong spot. If your dentist says that your wisdom teeth are “impacted,” that means they are stuck in your jaw or under your gums.

 As your wisdom teeth try and force through your gums, your dentist will keep an eye on your mouth for signs of:

• Unaligned wisdom teeth can trap food. It feeds cavity-causing bacteria.
• Wisdom teeth that haven’t come in correctly can make brushing difficult.
• Wisdom teeth that have only partially erupted can allow bacteria to infect the gums. Jaw pain, swelling, and stiffness may result.
• Some beliefs impacted wisdom teeth crowd or damage nearby teeth.
• An impacted wisdom tooth can produce a cyst. It can harm tooth roots and jawbone.

Why Do You Need Your Wisdom Teeth Removed? 

If your impacted wisdom tooth causes issues like these, you’ll probably need to have it extracted:

• Pain from food and other things getting stuck behind the wisdom tooth
• Infection or disease of the gums (periodontal disease)
• Tooth decay in a wisdom tooth that has only partially come out
• Getting damage to a nearby tooth or bone
• A cyst (a bag filled with fluid) forms around the wisdom tooth.
• Problems with straightening other teeth with orthodontic care

What Are The Risk Of Wisdom Tooth Extraction? 

Most extractions of wisdom teeth don’t cause any long-term problems. But sometimes, removing impacted wisdom teeth requires surgery, which involves cutting the gum tissue and taking out some bone. Rarely, things can go wrong, such as: 

• Painful dry socket, or bone exposure, happens when the blood clot that formed after surgery starts to fall off (socket)
• Infection in the socket caused by bacteria or stuck food
• Damage to teeth, nerves, jawbone, or sinuses in the area

What Can You Expect During The Procedure? 

Your dentist or oral surgeon may use one of three types of anesthesia for the wisdom tooth extraction, depending on how difficult the procedure is and how comfortable you are. Options include: 

• Local anesthetic – Your dentist or oral surgeon will give you one or more injections close to the location of each extraction. Your dentist or surgeon will probably numb your gums with a chemical before administering an injection. During the tooth extraction, you are awake.
• Sedation anesthesia – Your dentist or oral surgeon puts an intravenous (IV) line in your arm to give you sedation anesthesia. With sedation anesthesia, you are not awake during the procedure. You won’t feel any pain, and you won’t remember much about the process. You’ll also get a local anesthetic shot to numb your gums.
• General anesthesia – You may be given general anesthesia in certain situations. You might have an IV line in your arm, take medicine through your nose, or both. Then you start to lose consciousness. Your surgical team monitors your blood pressure, fluid intake, temperature, and breathing. You won’t feel any pain, and you won’t remember anything about the procedure. The dentist will also give local anesthetics to help with pain after surgery.

When removing a wisdom tooth, your dentist or oral surgeon will:

• Cuts into the gum tissue to show the tooth and bone
• Remove the bone that prevents access to the dental root
• if it’s easier to remove the tooth in sections, the dentist will divide it
• Pulls out the tooth
• Removes any dental or bone debris from the area where the tooth was removed.
• Closing of the wound with stitches is done to aid in healing, though it is not always necessary
• Apply gauze to the extraction site to stop bleeding and aid the formation of a blood clot

What To Do After The Procedure? 

After the procedure, you are transferred to a recovery room if you have general or sedation anesthesia. If you had a local anesthetic, you would probably spend the short recovery period in the dental chair. 

Follow the advice from your dentist as you recover from your procedure. 

• Bleeding – Some bleeding may occur on the first day following wisdom teeth removal. Spitting excessively should be avoided to prevent removing the blood clot from the socket. As your dentist or oral surgeon instructed, replace the gauze over the extraction site.
• Pain control – You may be able to control your pain by using an over-the-counter analgesic such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, among others) or by getting a prescription from your dentist or oral surgeon. If the bone was removed during the treatment, prescription pain medication might be especially beneficial. A cold compress applied to your jaw may help provide pain relief.
• Use an ice pack as your dentist or surgeon instructed to treat swelling and bruising. Your cheek swelling often goes down in two to three days. It can take a few more days for bruises to heal.
• Activity – After your surgery, schedule some time to relax. The following day, return to your routine but refrain from strenuous exercise for at least a week to prevent losing the blood clot from the socket.
• Beverages: After surgery, drink a lot of water. In the first 24 hours, refrain from consuming alcoholic, caffeinated, carbonated, or hot beverages. For at least a week, refrain from drinking using a straw since the sucking motion could push the blood clot out of the socket.
• Food – For the first 24 hours, stick to soft foods like yogurt or applesauce. Once you can tolerate semisoft meals, start eating them. Avoid hard, chewy, hot, or spicy foods that can stick in the socket or irritate the wound.
• Cleaning your mouth – For the first 24 hours post-surgery, avoid using mouthwash, washing your mouth, spit, or toothbrushes. Usually, after the first 24 hours, you’ll be instructed to start brushing your teeth again. Be extra cautious when scrubbing the area close to the surgical site, and for a week, gently rinse your mouth with warm salt water every two hours and after meals.
• Use of tobacco – If you smoke, stop doing so at least 72 hours following surgery, and wait even longer if you can. Don’t chew tobacco for at least a week if you do. After oral surgery, using tobacco products might hinder recovery and raise the possibility of problems.

You can have sutures that fall out after a few weeks or none at all. Make an appointment to have your stitches removed if they need to be taken out.