A future of pain, swelling, and infections—is there even a reason to keep your wisdom teeth around? They provide zero benefits, making the answer a resounding no. If you’re ready to learn more, Enlighten Dental can help. Contact our Vancouver, BC, team to learn about your options or to request a wisdom tooth extraction consultation.
Your wisdom teeth are the backmost teeth on each arch. These molars emerge last, typically right before or around adulthood. Unlike your other teeth, they don’t have a known function. However, their emergence can cause infection and tooth misalignment.
Choosing to have your wisdom teeth removed can save you a lot of pain, time, and money in the future. Wisdom teeth removal has many benefits:
The process of your wisdom teeth erupting can be painful. You might find it uncomfortable to chew with your back teeth and have a lingering sensation of pain. Partially or fully impacted wisdom teeth can cause swelling in the jaw, painful cysts, and serious complications.
If you let your wisdom teeth grow in, they may shift your other teeth. This shifting can result in overcrowding, a misaligned bite, and other alignment problems that may need to be corrected with orthodontics, costing you more in the long run than the wisdom tooth extraction would have.
If your shifting teeth have resulted in a crowded, crooked smile, you may find it more difficult to brush and floss all surfaces of your teeth. This can lead to various oral health problems, like cavities and gum disease.
17 to 25 is the average age range for wisdom tooth eruption.
-THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
Impacted wisdom teeth do not fully emerge from the gums. Generally, if your wisdom teeth are impacted, you may observe signs and symptoms like:
In fact, some people are missing one or more wisdom teeth. Others do not have any wisdom teeth at all. About 20% of people will not have any wisdom tooth emergence before age 70.
Additionally, some people have enough room in their jaws to accommodate wisdom teeth. This is why visiting your dentist regularly is so important. They can use X-rays to watch as your teeth emerge and determine if they’ll be a problem in the future or if they can stay.
Wondering if you need your wisdom teeth removed? You don’t have to find an oral surgeon. Instead, visit the dentists at our Vancouver office to see if you can benefit from extraction.
“Approximately 85 percent of people need to have their wisdom teeth extracted during their lifetime.”
-ACCORDING TO CREST
Think of removing wisdom teeth as a form of maintenance. While you may not currently be experiencing any pain, swelling, or general discomfort, having your wisdom teeth extracted now can save you from future discomfort and infections.
It’s also advantageous to have them removed when you are a young adult since the extraction and healing process will be easier.
When you decide to have your wisdom teeth removed at our Vancouver practice, you can schedule care on your own timeline. Having a scheduled appointment is typically a lot less stressful than needing immediate care. You won’t have to suffer before your appointment—you can simply come in, get the care you need, and after a short healing period, never worry about your wisdom teeth again.
In addition to treating everyone who steps through our doors like part of our dental family, our patients come back to us again and again because of how we make them feel. They know they can trust our treatment due to the planning involved and relax while they spend time in our care.
CT scans give our dentists a closer look at the visible parts of your teeth as well as the roots of the teeth, blood vessels, soft tissues, and other parts of the mouth that the eye can’t see. These scans give us a more detailed view of the position of your wisdom teeth when they haven’t yet erupted. We can also take digital impressions of your teeth using our intraoral scanner. We aim to give you an accurate view of your smile and improve your overall wellness by using this technology and other advanced tools at our Vancouver dental office.
Nitrous oxide sedation is administered through a nose mask shortly before you begin treatment. Also known as “laughing gas,” this is a light form of sedation that helps patients remain calm, but awake throughout treatment. Once the nose mask is removed, the sedation wears off quickly. Since it’s a mild sedation, you won’t experience lingering effects that other forms of sedation may cause.
If you have more than one tooth to remove, you may benefit more from IV sedation. This method is a heavier form of sedation than nitrous oxide and may leave you feeling a bit groggy, but it is a preferable option for many of our Vancouver patients. IV sedation renders a patient deeply relaxed and semi-conscious, and they may have no memory of their procedure.
We practice holistic dentistry at our Vancouver office. By treating one part of your mouth, we can improve the health of the whole.
Each type of tooth has its own specific function—except wisdom teeth. When they erupt incorrectly, these teeth can actually harm your oral health by becoming partially stuck in the gums and causing an infection.
However, there’s a way that you can prevent them from causing any problems: a wisdom tooth extraction at Enlighten Dental.
If you’ve noticed a wisdom tooth or teeth has already begun to emerge, let us intervene. Our dentists can perform the same treatment as oral surgeons, allowing you to have a healthy and pain-free smile once again. If you’re ready to explore your candidacy for wisdom tooth removal, contact our Vancouver, BC, office or call: (604) 330-1496
Our team at Enlighten Dental in Vancouver wants general dentistry procedures to be accessible to everyone, so we go above and beyond to make care affordable. We accept most insurances, which will typically contribute to or cover the cost of wisdom teeth removal. We will help you maximize your benefits by filing a claim for you. If you’re uninsured or have out-of-pocket costs, we offer flexible financing plans so the care you need is still within reach.
Whether patients need immediate wisdom teeth removal or they are planning ahead for the future, they trust our Vancouver dentists to get the job done.
We’ll welcome you into our Vancouver office for a routine consultation. We can examine your mouth and determine the status of your wisdom teeth using observation and X-rays.
Our dentists will ensure that you remain calm and comfortable during your procedure. We will use local anesthesia and offer you sedation so that you don’t feel anything at all and can relax in the dental chair. Once the treatment site is completely numb, we will begin your extraction.
After the area is clean, your dentist will make a small incision in your gums. This allows them to remove your wisdom teeth. They will repeat as necessary for each impacted molar.
Once the teeth have been removed, your dentist will close up the area with a few careful stitches, allowing easier healing for your gums. They will also likely pack the affected area with gauze.
After your wisdom teeth extraction, you will need a trusted friend or family member to drive you home. There, you should rest and relax. Complete healing takes about two weeks, but you can return to work in a day or two.
One of the best things you can do for your recovery is simply to rest. You should give yourself a day or two to relax. It also helps to use a second pillow when you are lying down or sleeping.
Take Pain Medication
If you experience pain and discomfort in the days following your extraction, you can hold a cool compress to your jaw or take pain medication to alleviate your symptoms.
Good oral hygiene is always important. As you heal, you should still brush your teeth. However, wait to brush around the extraction sites until your gums have fully recovered.
The extraction sites will form important blood clots after your procedure. If a clot becomes dislodged, it will lead to dry socket, a painful condition in which the underlying bone and nerves are exposed. To keep the blood clots in place, refrain from drinking hot liquids, vigorous spitting, using a straw, and smoking or drinking alcohol or smoking for at least 72 hours.
From questions about aftercare to attention for any complications that arise, the dentists at Enlighten Dental are here to help you heal. Please, always feel free to contact or visit our Vancouver team if you need anything at all.
Our dentists will send you home with a post-op kit that includes everything you’ll need to help ensure a smooth recovery. Complications from wisdom teeth removal are very rare, but call our team if you experience fever, excessive bleeding, or other serious symptoms.
Your mouth has its own unique tool that it uses to help you heal after wisdom teeth removal: a blood clot. Blood clots will form over your gums where each molar has been extracted. Because they shield your nerves, they reduce any pain. They also improve your healing time, blocking bacteria from gaining access to the area.
Our dentists will give you detailed tips on how to keep these clots in place, such as refraining from using straws or cleaning the treatment area too vigorously. If the clot does prematurely dislodge, please let us know so we can treat your dry socket.
“If your smile is causing you pain or discomfort, it can affect all other areas of your life. Our Vancouver dentists want to help you restore your oral health, maintain your overall health, and boost your self-confidence.”
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