Wisdom Teeth Extractions

All over the United States, college kids are enjoying the very last days of summer before they return to their schools for another year of college. Before returning for their freshman or sophomore years, many will undergo an oral surgery procedure call a wisdom tooth extraction.

Your wisdom teeth are your third set of molars and the last teeth to erupt into your mouth. The usually come in somewhere between the age of 16 and 25. Many people simply do not have room in their mouths for the wisdom teeth to fully erupt and become fully functioning teeth. If the wisdom teeth cannot fully erupt into the mouth, they become impacted. Impacted wisdom teeth must be removed to prevent serious dental health issues such as crowding, orthodontic relapse, tooth decay, gum disease and cyst or tumor formation. In short, failure to remove impacted wisdom teeth can put the health of your other remaining teeth at risk.

Although wisdom teeth extractions have a reputation of being very painful procedures, this does not have to be the case. To help with pain, you may be offered a local anesthetic that can be injected into your gum line near the area of the extraction. You may also receive intravenous sedative medications. In some cases, it is necessary to put patients under General Anesthesia for this procedure. Your oral surgeon can help you decide which form or forms of anesthesia are best suited for your particular case.

After the procedure, you may be given a prescription for pain medications that can be taken for the first few days following the extraction. You may even be able to get sufficient pain relief using Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen. Most people are back to normal and can return to normal activities within a few days. For more information about wisdom teeth extractions, talk to an oral surgeon in your local area today.