Wisdom teeth causing you problems? Our dentist highlights 5 issues they are commonly linked to

When you are going through those fun-filled teenage years or entering young adulthood, you may be surprised by a sudden sensation at the back of your mouth and in your jaws.

Known as wisdom teeth, these additional 4 molars usually erupt during puberty or young adulthood and, unlike the name suggests, they unfortunately do not imbue wisdom!

Indeed, many people begin to notice an unbearable pressure in their jaws, often accompanied by reddening, swelling, and issues with opening and closing their mouths correctly while these teeth erupt. Assuming that your new teeth come through and have adequate room (lucky you), that discomfort experienced during the eruption will soon fade into memory. Unfortunately, when it comes to most sets of wisdom teeth, this is rarely the case.

If you are fed up with the discomfort caused by wisdom teeth, come and see our team at Spa Dental Sydney. Our dentist in Sydney will take X-rays and perform an oral assessment to ascertain the cause of the discomfort. From here, we will create a treatment plan to make sure that those additional teeth cause no more problems for you via an extraction. Perfect!

But what are some of the issues that wisdom teeth can cause in your mouth? Our dentist in Sydney lists them below.

Impaction

A common reason for the discomfort behind wisdom tooth eruption is an impaction.

Simply put, the wisdom tooth is erupting at an incorrect angle and may be pushing on any surrounding teeth beneath the gum line.

If our dentist in Sydney suspects an impaction, they will take an X-ray of your jaw to assess the severity and to plan an extraction.

Secondary damage

As you can imagine, when you have limited space in your mouth and a new tooth trying to emerge, it can cause damage to the teeth that are already present.

In relation to impaction, it can put pressure on the roots of the other teeth, causing them to crack or break. Above the gum, provided that the eruption has occurred, these teeth can press against the crowns. Once again, the pressure can be unbearable for many people and so, we will extract the wisdom teeth and repair any damage.

Cysts

As wisdom teeth develop in a sac underneath the jawbone, this sac can fill with liquid and cause a cyst.

As the wisdom tooth moves in the jaw, the cyst may grow larger and can cause damage to the jaw, surrounding teeth and even the nerves.

Decay

As they often erupt at odd angles, wisdom teeth are harder to clean correctly.

And so, this places them at a higher risk of developing decay and, as bacteria gets trapped between the gum and the partially erupted tooth, they are also more prone to infections.

Gum disease

In a similar vein to decay, wisdom teeth are also more likely to develop gum disease as a result of accumulated bacteria and poor cleaning.

More specifically, they can cause an inflammatory condition known as pericoronitis to occur.

DISCLAIMER

All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.