The wisdom tooth is the third molar tooth that develops when one is around 18 to 25 years of age as this is the age bracket that signifies the starting of wisdom and maturity. This set of teeth is useful for grinding the food. Even though it holds an important role in the digestion process, its extraction is still inevitable in some circumstances.
The extraction of wisdom tooth is done by an oral surgeon, in a single visit. If getting all the wisdom teeth getting extracted in a single visit, you might have to get your surgery done at a hospital. The surgery can be delayed in case of prior infections until it clears up itself. Obviously, antibiotics need to be taken to heal these obfuscating factors.
Local anesthesia is directed before removing a tooth. If more than one or all the wisdom teeth are to be removed in a single sitting, a general anesthesia will be used to avoid pain in the entire body. This causes the patient to sleep during the whole procedure. It is usually recommended to skip eating or drinking a night before the surgery to let the anesthesia exertion properly.
In the course of the procedure, to remove the wisdom tooth, the dentist opens up the gum tissue above the tooth and pulls out any bone that is covering it. This may require stitches later. Some stitches dissolve with time while some do not; however they need to be removed after a few days.
What to Expect After the Surgery:
The surgery site takes a few days to recover. Here are some tips for a speedy recovery:
The extraction of wisdom tooth is done by an oral surgeon, in a single visit. If getting all the wisdom teeth getting extracted in a single visit, you might have to get your surgery done at a hospital. The surgery can be delayed in case of prior infections until it clears up itself. Obviously, antibiotics need to be taken to heal these obfuscating factors.
Local anesthesia is directed before removing a tooth. If more than one or all the wisdom teeth are to be removed in a single sitting, a general anesthesia will be used to avoid pain in the entire body. This causes the patient to sleep during the whole procedure. It is usually recommended to skip eating or drinking a night before the surgery to let the anesthesia exertion properly.
In the course of the procedure, to remove the wisdom tooth, the dentist opens up the gum tissue above the tooth and pulls out any bone that is covering it. This may require stitches later. Some stitches dissolve with time while some do not; however they need to be removed after a few days.
What to Expect After the Surgery:
The surgery site takes a few days to recover. Here are some tips for a speedy recovery:
- Pain killers, only as prescribed by the surgeon
- Cotton gauze pads are used to soak blood after the surgery. It is important to change the gauze pads as they become soaked and pressure them gently to absorb the flowing blood.
- Try to prop your head up with pillows and avoid lying flat as this may spin out blood.
- Avoid as much physical activity as possible as it promotes faster blood flow in the injured area.
- Soft foods are recommended to lessen the stress on the surgery site
- It is advisable to rinse your mouth several times a day with warm salty water to reduce pain and swelling.
- Smoking should be avoided as the sucking motion can loosen the blood clotting process and may delay healing. For the same reason, straws should also be avoided.
- The teeth may be too large for the jaw bone that they are budding out of. Consequently, the teeth might become wedged, which means that they cannot grow properly in a normal healthy manner.
- A flap of the gum tissue may grow over the tooth as it emerges through the gum line. Food and germs can get stuck under this flap, which can cause infection.
- In some cases removal is necessary to preserve the healthy teeth. This is done when one or more wisdom teeth grow in at wrong angles which may create crowding of the other healthier teeth.