Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth can become painful at the most annoying times! When you are stressed, run down and busy. When there is not enough room in your jaw for your wisdom teeth to erupt straight, they can become stuck, or impacted and part of the tooth remains covered by gum (partially erupted). This area of gum can become infected and swollen at times, causing lots of discomfort. This is known as pericoronitis (see picture below) and is often a warning sign that you should consider getting your wisdom teeth removed.

One of the worst things that can happen as a result of an impacted wisdom tooth is damaging the tooth ahead, the second molar (see picture below). At times this tooth may need to be removed as well. To avoid this visit your dentist and find out the position and health of your wisdom teeth early!

Decay on the second molar as a result of the wisdom tooth

We provide many options to make removing your wisdom teeth as comfortable as possible including General Anaesthetic and IV sedation. Talk to your dentist to determine which option is most suitable for you.

My widom teeth are making my front teeth crooked!

This comment is common among patients and provides misconceived motivation for wisdom tooth extraction. The evidence surrounding this notion is controversial however the  current view is that wisdom teeth play little if not no role in causing late crowding of the front teeth. Research does not support significant lessening of crowding once the wisdom teeth are removed.