What are Wisdom Teeth?
Wisdom teeth (also known as third molars) are the last teeth to erupt in the adult mouth.
It’s usually best to remove wisdom teeth before the roots are fully formed. As you age, the roots will thicken, becoming more firmly anchored to your jawbone. If you wait until your wisdom teeth cause problems, the chances of complications are higher, and recovery may not proceed as smoothly as when they are removed electively.
Why do they need to be removed?
We extract wisdom teeth for many reasons, including:
- They are positioned far back in the mouth making it very difficult to keep them clean and more susceptible to decay.
- Many people do not have enough room in their mouths for their wisdom teeth to grow. Therefore, they become impacted, only erupting partially or not at all.
- Naturally occurring bacteria in the mouth can work its way down to the impacted wisdom teeth, frequently causing infection in the surrounding gums and bone.
Surrounding bone, tooth roots and adjacent teeth may be harmed if left untreated. - The constant pressure from impacted wisdom teeth can also damage adjacent teeth. You may not feel anything until significant damage has occurred. This pressure may also push other teeth out of line, possibly creating a need for orthodontic treatment.
Local or General Anaesthetic?
At Ipswich Family Dental we have been providing our patients with a complete solution for managing how the removal of their wisdom teeth or other complex dental surgery can be carried out. We are the only local dental surgeons who have lists at either St Andrews hospital or the day facility at Ipswich Day hospital.Also at our surgery, the in-house facility can provide patients sedation for the removal of their teeth by Dr Brown who is the only registered sedationist in the Ipswich area or under local anaesthetic if this is appropriate to the needs of the patient.