Wisdom Teeth ExtractionS ~ When It's Wiser to Pull

Origination & Reduction

You may not realize it, but your jaw is probably significantly smaller than that of your ancient ancestors. Long ago, prior to the discovery and use of food preparation and processing tools, people's jaws were larger-- having much harder work to do. But over time, culinary skills improved and diets changed, lightening the jaw's workload. So jaws have become smaller over time; but the number of teeth per jaw has remained the same. The result: crowded teeth.

Impaction & Infection

A full set of adult teeth in a small jaw typically doesn't leave much room for wisdom teeth (or third molars) to erupt. And when your jaw doesn't have sufficient room to accommodate these teeth, you've got a problem. In fact, it's so common a problem that it's known as the most prevalent medical development disorder: impacted wisdom teeth. Instead of erupting all the way, such wisdom teeth often sit partially erupted, becoming a perfect location for bacterial growth and germ accumulation, leading to infection. Meaning jaw pain, swelling, gum disease, and possibly tumors and cysts. And while antibiotics can help temporarily, they can't solve the real problem: your wisdom teeth don't fit in your mouth.

Evaluation & Extraction

Knowing all this, you can see why it's not advisable to wait until your wisdom teeth become impacted before consulting a dentist about the problem. In fact, Dr. Siegrist typically recommends early evaluation, x-ray monitoring of wisdom teeth development, and removal prior to age 19 if possible. In fact, by age eleven or twelve your second molars become visible, making it possible to anticipate any positioning problems that will be caused by the wisdom teeth. And that's the perfect time to remove them.

Even if your wisdom teeth aren't causing obvious problems, there are good reasons for removing them. For one, if orthodontic treatment is ever needed, you'll achieve better results without them. And early extraction will also help your mouth accommodate any future prosthetic appliances, avoid cavities, periodontal disease, bone shrinkage and tumor development.

In any case, a planned wisdom tooth removal is quite simple and non-threatening. While your jaw is comfortably anesthetized, Dr. Siegrist simply removes the wisdom tooth's gum tissue, gently strips connective tissue away from the tooth and bone, removes the problem tooth and sews the gum back up.

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