I am one of those lucky people with four impacted wisdom teeth. Only one of them is bothering me at the moment and I’m going to get it extracted. My dentist asked if I wanted to extract all of them or just the one and something about my age being an issue. I’m 27. However, he did mention that one of them has a root that goes past a nerve, which means there is a slight chance of nerve damage.
My dentist gave me three options. I could leave the other wisdom teeth until they started bothering me. I could remove all of them. I could remove all of them, but for the one near the nerve I could remove the tooth part, leaving the root and hope it doesn’t get infected. Then, if it does get infected I will have to go back to get the rest.
Is there a best way to handle this?
Samantha
Dear Samantha,
I’m glad that you wrote. Your age is a factor in how you handle this. While you are relatively young, as you are currently, it is much easier to remove wisdom teeth. Once you hit thirty, your chances of complications double. They double again every few years after that as well. This is because the bone becomes less pliable and cementum builds up at the roots.
If your wisdom teeth were not impacted, I would say leave them be. However, when it comes to impacted wisdom teeth, it is not a matter of if they give you a problem, but when. Because of that I recommend doing it now before they become a problem. The last thing you want is a dental emergency while dealing with this, especially when you get a few years older.
I like your dentist’s idea of leaving the root, but don’t have him leave the whole root. Tell him just to leave the very tip. If it is a small piece, your body will often not have an issue with it, therefore you will have less of a chance of developing an infection.
I hope this helps with your decision. Click here to learn about sedation options for your procedure.
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