Between babyhood and adolescence, your teeth erupt in stages. Around six months of age, you get your first incisors, then your canines appear, followed by your premolars and molars. The last to erupt are your wisdom teeth, around the ages of 16-18.

You don’t need wisdom teeth for chewing and, unlike the rest of your teeth that start growing at or before birth, your third molars don’t begin developing in your jaw until around the age of 13.

If your mouth has space for the eruption of these molars in the very back of your mouth, you won’t have any problems except the “teething pain” of the erupting tooth.

On the other hand, if you’re like most men and women that have little to no space for the eruption of these third molars, and if the tooth is positioned in a way that prevents eruption, they may become impacted, and you may experience pain, swelling, or an infection.

Wisdom teeth that don’t erupt correctly enable food to become trapped, giving cavity-causing bacteria a place to grow. Additionally, poorly positioned wisdom teeth make flossing difficult.

If your wisdom teeth only erupt partially, this gives bacteria a way to enter your gums, allowing an infection to occur. Pain, swelling, and stiffness in your jaw often accompany infections.

If Dr. Kauser Bari or one of her associates at KRB Dentistry refers to your wisdom teeth as “impacted,” that means your teeth are trapped in your jaw, under your gums.

Impacted wisdom teeth often crowd or damage neighboring teeth. They’re also known to cause the formation of cysts, which can damage the roots of nearby teeth or destroy bone that provides support your teeth.

When you have one or all of your wisdom teeth removed at KRB Dentistry, the first step is determining which anesthesia you’ll receive. Your options may include:

• Local anesthesia: One or more injections near the site of extraction
• Conscious sedation: Nitrous oxide allows you to relax and makes it easier to feel the numbing but still be able to communicate to the dentist if you’re feeling any piercing sensation or pain.
• Oral Sedation: Oral sedative medication provides a sense of calm in case you have dental anxiety and need a little help relaxing.
  You remain conscious throughout the procedure so you can communicate your comfort level to the dental team.

Once you’ve been anesthetized, Dr. Bari or an associate makes an incision in your gum tissue to expose your tooth and bone. They then remove the bone blocking the access to your tooth root and your wisdom tooth.

After your wisdom tooth is out, your dentist cleans any remaining debris from your tooth or bone and stitches up your wound with a gut suture that falls out on its own in about three days. Finally, they place gauze over your extraction site to help control bleeding and assist your body with forming a blood clot.

Wisdom teeth, unlike their name, have nothing to do with growing wiser, so if they’re causing you discomfort, call or make an appointment online today at KRB Dentistry in Rosenberg, Texas, to have them removed.