I'm 26, and it's my turn to remove my wisdom tooth. According to the handsome dentist that check my tooth the other day, I should see him earlier.
Knowing that it's not a normal tooth extraction, I decided to search information about the wisdom tooth and here it is:
This article is from : http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/wisdom-tooth-extraction
An
oral and maxillofacial surgeon or your
dentist can remove (extract) a wisdom
tooth. The
procedure often can be done in the dentist's or surgeon's office. You may have
the surgery in the hospital, especially if you are having all your
wisdom teeth
pulled at one time or if you are at high risk for complications.
If you have any infections, surgery will usually be delayed until the
infection has cleared up. Your doctor or dentist may have you take antibiotics
to help heal the infection.
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Before removing a wisdom tooth, your
dentist will give you a
local anesthetic to numb the area where the tooth will
be removed. A
general anesthetic may be used, especially if several
or all of your wisdom teeth will be removed at the same time. A general
anesthetic prevents pain in the whole body and will cause you to
sleep through
the procedure. Your dentist will probably recommend that you don't eat or drink
after midnight on the night before surgery so that you are prepared for the
anesthetic.
To remove the wisdom tooth, your dentist will open up
the gum tissue over the tooth and take out any bone that is covering the tooth.
He or she will separate the tissue connecting the tooth to the bone and then
remove the tooth. Sometimes the dentist will cut the tooth into smaller pieces
to make it easier to remove.
After the tooth is removed, you may
need
stitches. Some stitches dissolve over time and some have to be removed
after a few days. Your dentist will tell you whether your stitches need to be
removed. A folded cotton gauze pad placed over the wound will help stop the
bleeding.
What To Expect After Surgery
In most cases, the recovery period lasts
only a few days. Take painkillers as prescribed by your dentist or oral
surgeon. The following tips will help speed your recovery.
- Bite gently on the gauze pad periodically, and
change pads as they become soaked with blood. Call your dentist or oral surgeon
if you still have bleeding 24 hours after your surgery.
- While your mouth is numb, be careful not to bite the inside of
your cheek or lip, or your tongue.
- Do not lie flat. This may
prolong bleeding. Prop up your head with pillows.
- Try using an
ice pack on the outside of your cheek for the first 24 hours. You can use
moist heat-such as a washcloth soaked in warm water and wrung out-for the
following 2 or 3 days.
- Relax after surgery. Physical activity may
increase bleeding.
- Eat soft foods, such as gelatin, pudding, or a
thin soup. Gradually add solid foods to your diet as healing
progresses.
- Do not use a straw for the first few days. Sucking on a
straw can loosen the blood clot and delay healing.
- After the first
day, gently rinse your mouth with
warm salt water several times a day to reduce swelling
and relieve pain. You can make your own salt water by
mixing 1 tsp (5 g) of salt in a medium-sized glass [8 fl oz (240 mL)] of warm water.
- Do not smoke for at least 24 hours after your
surgery. The sucking motion can loosen the clot and delay healing. Also,
smoking decreases the blood supply and can bring germs and contaminants to the
surgery area.
- Avoid rubbing the area with your tongue or touching
it with your fingers.
- Continue to brush your teeth and tongue
carefully.
Your dentist will remove the stitches after a few days, if
needed.
Why It Is Done
A wisdom tooth is extracted to correct
an actual problem or to prevent problems that may come up in the future. When
wisdom teeth come in, a number of problems can occur:
- Your jaw may not be large enough for them, and
they may become
impacted and unable to break through your
gums.
- Your wisdom teeth may break partway through your gums,
causing a flap of gum tissue to grow over them. Food and germs can get trapped
under the flap and cause your gums to become red, swollen, and painful. These
are signs of infection.
- More serious problems can develop from
impacted teeth, such as infection, damage to other teeth and bone, or a
cyst.
- One or more of your wisdom teeth may
come in at an awkward angle, with the top of the tooth facing forward,
backward, or to either side.
How Well It Works
Wisdom tooth removal usually is
effective in preventing:
- Crowding of the back teeth.
- A
wisdom tooth becoming stuck in the jaw (impacted) and never breaking through
the gums.
- Red, swollen, and painful gums caused by a flap of skin
around a wisdom tooth that has only partially come in.
- Gum disease
and tooth decay in the wisdom tooth, which may be harder to clean than other
teeth, or in the teeth and jaw in the area of the wisdom tooth.
Risks
After a wisdom tooth is removed, you may
experience:
- Pain and swelling in your gums and tooth socket
where the tooth was removed.
- Bleeding that won't stop for about 24
hours.
- Difficulty with or pain from opening your jaw (trismus).
- Slow-healing
gums.
- Damage to existing dental work, such as
crowns or
bridges, or to
roots of a nearby tooth.
- A painful inflammation called
dry socket, which happens if the protective blood clot
is lost too soon.
- Numbness in your mouth and lips after the local
anesthetic wears off, due to injury or inflammation of nerves in the
jaw.
- Rare side effects, including:
- Numbness in the mouth or lips that does not
go away.1
- A
fractured jaw if the tooth was firmly attached to the
jaw bone.
- An opening into the sinus cavity when a wisdom tooth is
removed from the upper jaw.
Dental surgery may cause bacteria in the mouth to enter the
bloodstream and cause infections in other parts of the body. People who have
difficulty fighting off infections may need to take antibiotics before and
after dental surgery. Such people include those who have artificial
heart
valves or were born with
heart defects.
Anesthetic
(local and/or general) almost always is used during the extraction procedure.
All surgeries, including oral surgery, that use general anesthetic have a small
risk of death or other complications.
What To Think About
If your wisdom teeth are not
causing problems, it may be difficult to decide whether to have these
teeth removed to prevent possible dental problems later in life. Think about the
following:
- You may never have any problems with your
wisdom teeth.
- It is rarely harmful to your health to have your
wisdom teeth removed, but there are slight risks involved with any
surgery.
- In younger people (late teens and early 20s), the wisdom
tooth's roots are not fully developed and the jaw bone is not as dense, so it
is easier to remove the tooth. The easier it is to remove the tooth, the easier
your recovery is likely to be.
- Most problems with wisdom teeth
develop between the ages of 15 and 25.
- If you are older than age
30, you have only a small risk of having problems with your wisdom teeth. Few
people older than 30 develop problems that require removal of their wisdom
teeth.
- Medical insurance does not always cover this
procedure.
- If you have a medical condition that may get worse over
time and your teeth may cause problems, consider having your wisdom teeth
removed while you are healthy.
- Possible complications include dry
socket (alveolar osteitis), infection, bleeding, and numbness.
Women on birth control pills who decide to have their wisdom teeth removed should
try to schedule the surgery for the end of their menstrual cycle (usually days
23 through 28). There seems to be less risk of dry socket during this
time.
2
After a wisdom tooth is removed,
you may have or notice:
- Pain and swelling in your gums and tooth socket
where the tooth was removed.
- Bleeding that won't stop for about 24
hours.
- Difficulty with or pain from opening your jaw
(trismus).
- Slow-healing gums.
- Damage to dental work,
such as crowns or bridges, or to roots of a nearby tooth.
- A painful inflammation called dry socket.
- Numbness in
your mouth and lips after the local anesthetic wears off, due to injury or
inflammation of nerves in the jaw. Numbness will usually go away, but in rare
cases it may be permanent.1
Dental surgery may cause bacteria in the mouth to enter the
bloodstream and cause infections in other parts of the body. People who have
difficulty fighting off infections may need to take antibiotics before and
after dental surgery. Such people include those who have artificial heart
valves or were born with heart defects.
