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Wisdom Tooth Problems-Treat them wisely and early

Is it your wisdom tooth? Did you get your wisdom tooth removed? Snap…. come few questions from the dentist as you go complaining of a dental pain, especially when you are in the mid-twenties age group.

Where are wisdom teeth?
Wisdom teeth are the third molar set of the teeth both in the upper as well the lower jaws that start appearing or erupting mostly after the teenage. It is also said that by that time you have gained some lifetime experiences and gathered some wisdom, these teeth erupt; thus the name WISDOM teeth.
 
Wisdom tooth problems arise mostly due to their malformation or wrong alignment. Wrongly aligned growth of wisdom tooth leads to damage of adjacent set of teeth as well. Furthermore, as the wisdom tooth grows a mass of tissue might grow over it, causing foods to get trapped between the gum and the tooth leading to infection and pain. And, the growth of the wisdom teeth also adds to the dental problems due to their inability to grow properly. Chances are that they might grow in an angle jetting outward or might be crooked. Sometimes it so happens, that your jawbone might not have enough space to accommodate wisdom tooth, thus the tooth might not be able to break the gums and grow. The obvious result is an impacted tooth, aggravating wisdom tooth problems. As the impacted tooth is allowed to grow only little due to lack of room, bacteria sets in causing swelling, stiffness of the jaw and obvious excruciating pain.
 
How to treat the wisdom tooth problem?
To treat wisdom tooth problems, we need to know the root cause of the problem and an x-ray will help evaluate some of them including the position as well the condition of the tooth. If the x-ray warrants the only plausible solution would be a wisdom tooth extraction or removal by oral surgeons.
 
It is said that tooth extraction is less painful as well easy when you are at young age say early twenties. This is because the bone remains less dense and the healing process is faster. However, with age and added dental complications, the jawbones become harder and wisdom tooth extraction becomes more than complicated. Also, if the wisdom tooth has grown out totally, tooth extraction becomes relatively easier than in the case when the tooth lies embedded inside the gum. In this kind of tooth extraction, a small incision is required to be made on the gum tissue, a portion of the bone also need a cut or removal to extract the tooth out.

In most of the cases of wisdom tooth extraction, the patient is treated under anesthesia and sedation. Healing also depends on the severity of infection as well as the amount of cut in the jawbone.
 
However, following could be the potential complications with wisdom tooth extraction:

Paresthesia: Wisdom tooth is close to nerve ends, and in some cases the nerves might get bruised during the process of tooth extraction, resulting in loss of sensation in parts such as lip, tongue or even the chin, for sometime or in the worst cases permanently.

Dry socket: A condition by which in the socket of the extracted tooth blood clotting either failed or has been dislodged, resulting in bad odor problem coupled with severe pain.