Prevention is better than cure. One of them is wisdom tooth surgery before it grows and crashes into your other teeth. Don't wait for your wisdom teeth to cause you unbearable pain, even to the point that it radiates to your face and neck. Well, for those who are still confused, whether or not wisdom teeth should be operated on, you need to know first what is the condition and position of your wisdom teeth that want to grow. How to do?
To find out if you have wisdom teeth that are about to grow and how they are positioned, you can take X-rays or panoramic x-rays of your entire jaw. From the x-ray results, you can see how many wisdom teeth will grow, what their position is, and whether or not a surgical removal is necessary. If the x-ray results show the position of your wisdom teeth is tilted, it's a sign that your jaw isn't enough for additional teeth. So, so that the teeth don't grow sideways and hit the teeth next to them, you also have to undergo surgery to remove the wisdom teeth.
So, why is wisdom tooth removal surgery recommended to be done immediately?
Wisdom teeth that start to grow can cause problems for your teeth and mouth. For example, food scraps can be left between the tips of the wisdom teeth that are starting to grow, where the food remains will later become plaque and trigger several things:
- appearance of dental caries
- gum disease or gingivitis or periodontitis
- pericoronitis or plaque that can make the tissue around the teeth infected
- the appearance of infection in the area inside the cheeks, tongue or throat or called cellulitis
- gum pus or abscess due to bacterial infection
- and that rarely occurs is the growth of cysts and benign tumors.
What is the process for removing wisdom teeth? Doesn't it hurt?
You don't need to be afraid if you have wisdom tooth surgery at a dentist you trust. As an expert, dentists certainly know what to do to reduce risk to a minimum. One of them is by injecting a local anesthetic so that you will not feel the slightest during the operation. And when the surgery is over, you may start to feel pain as the anesthetic starts to wear off. But there's no need to worry either because the dentist will prescribe you painkillers and antibiotics to prevent post-operative infections.
Then, what if it turns out that the X-Ray of your teeth shows that your wisdom teeth are in a normal position?
If the doctor recommends letting your wisdom teeth grow, it means you don't have to worry anymore because it means that your jaw is still enough to accommodate the wisdom teeth and you don't need to undergo surgical removal. To be sure, always check the condition of your teeth regularly to the dentist to make sure your teeth are okay, right!
Ref.:
National Health Service, UK, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/wisdom-tooth-removal/