Wisdom Teeth Removal In Renton, WA
Between ages 16 and 21, the average adult will have 32 teeth: 16 on the top and 16 on the bottom. However, as adults, our mouths are designed to hold only 28 teeth, each tooth having a specific name and function. The teeth in the front of our mouths (incisors, canine, and bicuspid teeth) are ideal for grasping and biting food into smaller pieces. The back teeth (molars) are used to grind food up into a consistency suitable for swallowing. After our molars are our wisdom teeth; for most of the population, they are an issue and serve no benefit. Most patients do not have enough space in their mouths for a new tooth to properly erupt without disturbing their surrounding teeth.
However, before these wisdom teeth develop into an issue, we take preventive measures and remove them. Typically, this removal is done under sedation, so you will not feel a thing. For those patients who choose to keep their wisdom teeth and not take the preventive measure of having them removed, there could be several issues, including their wisdom teeth growing in sideways, having them only partially erupted, or even remaining trapped beneath the gum line and bone, which can be especially painful as they can take many positions in the bone as they attempt to find a pathway that will allow them to erupt successfully.
When wisdom teeth are partially erupted, the opening around them allows bacteria to grow and will eventually cause an infection—the result is swelling, stiffness, pain, and illness. The pressure from the erupting wisdom teeth may start moving your other teeth and disrupt any orthodontic or natural alignment of your teeth. The most severe oral issues occur when tumors or cysts form around the impacted wisdom teeth. Removal of the impacted teeth usually resolves these issues. Early removal is recommended to decrease the likelihood of wisdom tooth complications.
Between 14 and 16 years old, most patients will talk about their wisdom teeth with their dentist, orthodontist or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. With an oral examination and x-rays of your mouth, our dentist can evaluate the position of your wisdom teeth and predict if any issues present now or may develop in the future. In most cases, the removal of your wisdom teeth is performed under local anesthesia, laughing gas (nitrous oxide), or general anesthesia. These options and the surgical risks (i.e., sensory nerve damage and sinus complications) are discussed with you before the procedure. Before removing a tooth, we need to evaluate your oral health. Please keep in mind that if an extraction is required, it is for the benefit of your overall oral health.