Risks of Wisdom Teeth Extraction
Generally people have four wisdom teeth that start to erupt around adulthood. When these teeth cause chronic pain, infection, or unable to come out, they are considered impacted. There are more risks involved with leaving your wisdom teeth in. There are several complications that can arise if they are not removed.
Wisdom teeth are a third molar. These generally start to come up when a person is 18 - 22. Sometimes they become impacted. When they become impacted, they can get very painful.
Risks
There are some risks for getting your wisdom teeth extracted, but not as many as leaving them in place. If your wisdom teeth are impacted and not removed, it can ruin the alignment of your teeth. They can also cause cysts and tumors. Impacted teeth can cause infection, tooth decay and chronic pain.
Complications
The two main complications from wisdom tooth extraction are dry socket and nerve damage. Dry socket occurs when a blood clot doesn't form or when the blood clot was disturbed. It can be very miserable. Sometimes a foul odor will come from the opening the tooth left. If dry socket is going to occur, it is always within the first few days after the surgery.
Your oral surgeon will give you tips on how to avoid dry socket. You will not want to drink with a straw or smoke cigarettes for a few days after surgery. The treatment for dry socket is usually a medicated dressing packed into the opening and changed daily until symptoms subside.
Oral paresthesia is the other risk of wisdom tooth extraction. Oral parasthesia is nerve damage from oral surgery. The areas affected could be the lips, chin, or tongue. It causes a person to experience a sensation similar to a numbed tooth. Fortunately, this generally resolves itself within a few days or a few weeks after surgery, and it is extremely rare.
The majority of people that have their wisdom teeth removed don't experience any type of complication. It's far easier to remove a tooth that has broken the surface than one unable. Many times when a wisdom tooth is impacted, it lays sideways and has to be surgically cut out. This type of procedure increases the risk of complications, although the risk is very small. The risk of complications increases with a person's age, so it's recommended to have the wisdom teeth taken out as soon as possible.