The wisdom teeth grow at the back of your gums and are the last teeth to come through. Most people have 4 wisdom teeth (1 in each corner).
Wisdom teeth usually grow through the gums during the late teens or early twenties.
By this time, the other 28 adult teeth are usually in place, so there isn’t always enough room in the mouth for the wisdom teeth to grow properly.
Because of the lack of space, wisdom teeth can sometimes emerge at an angle or get stuck and only partially emerge. Wisdom teeth that grow through like this are known as impacted.
Why are wisdom teeth removed?
Your wisdom teeth don’t usually need to be removed if they’re impacted, but aren’t causing any problems.
This is because there’s no proven benefit of doing this and it carries the risk of complications.
Sometimes, wisdom teeth that have become impacted or haven’t fully broken through the surface of the gum can cause dental problems.
Food and bacteria can get trapped around the edge of the wisdom teeth, causing a build-up of plaque, which can lead to:
—tooth decay (dental caries)
—gum disease (also called gingivitis or periodontal disease)
—pericoronitis – when plaque causes an infection of the soft tissue that surrounds the tooth
—cellulitis – a bacterial infection in the cheek, tongue or throat
—abscess – a collection of pus in your wisdom teeth or the surrounding tissue as a result of a bacterial infection
—cysts and benign growths – very rarely, a wisdom tooth that hasn’t cut through the gum develops a cyst (a fluid-filled swelling)
When to see a dentist
You should make an appointment to see your dentist if your wisdom teeth are causing severe pain.
We’ll check your teeth and advise you whether they need to be removed.
We’ll usually carry out an X-ray of your mouth. This give us a clearer view of the position of your teeth.
At our clinic, we do routinely carry out average 300 – 400 wisdom teeth removal surgically each year and our principle dentist (Dr.Knox Kim) had completed advanced training for surgical wisdom tooth extraction at the University of NSW in 2003.
We often endeavour to perform wisdom tooth removal as least invasively as possible, under local anaesthesia, minimizing prolonged healing recovery period.
Call us: 9269 0514 ◆ www.bestdentist.com.au ◆ Dr Knox Kim is Diamond Invisalign Provider and Invisalign’s only Clinical Consultant/ Speaker among General dentists in Australia Top 6th in the world in Invisalign International Gallery #straightyourteethwithout
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