Gental Wisdom Tooth Removal

Remove wisdom teeth to avoid pain

Wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, are the last teeth to grow out. The age at which wisdom teeth appear is usually between 17 and 25 years old, and this period is also called the “wisdom age.”

What are impacted wisdom teeth?

When a tooth cannot fully enter the mouth during its growth process, its growth is “impeded”. Generally speaking, impacted wisdom teeth cannot break through the gums because there is not enough room for it to grow.

What are the risks of impacted wisdom teeth to your oral health?

Leaving an impacted wisdom tooth in your mouth can harm the teeth around it, and it can also become infected. Because the third molar area is difficult to clean, it is an area where bacteria can grow and cause gum infections. In addition, oral bacteria can travel from your mouth into your bloodstream, which can cause systemic infection or affect the health of your heart, kidneys, and other organs. In some cases, a fluid-filled cyst can form around the root of an untreated wisdom tooth. As the cyst grows, it can cause more serious problems because it can hollow out the jawbone and injure surrounding nerves, teeth, or other structures.

Nonsurgical treatment of wisdom tooth infections: Laser Operculectomy

The gum tissue on top of a partially erupted tooth is called Operculum.  When food or plaques get trapped inside the operculum, it causes pericoronitis, an acute painful wisdom tooth infection.  When this happens, patients would seek emergency dental care. 

There are 3 options when this occurs: 1) Antibiotics (may take a few days to control infections), 2) Wisdom tooth extraction (patient has to be able to open mouth wide, and prepare for up to 7 days of recovery time), and 3) Laser operculectomy (immediate relief and no recovery time needed, but future extraction may still be necessary).

At Centre Dental, we use Solea laser to remove the infected operculum painlessly.  Patient normally does not need injections, and there is not much post-operative bleeding involved.  It is a great choice for patient with limited jaw opening due to infections, pregnant patients, patient with serious medical conditions that a surgery may be risking, and patients who cannot afford taking a few days off for surgical recovery due to work, school, meetings or important events.  After operculectomy we normally prescribe a course of antibiotics, and the infection should resolve.  However, please understand that future wisdom tooth removal may still be required, but at a time with adequate planning.

Wisdom tooth treatment process

To prepare for surgical removal of your wisdom tooth, we require CBCT 3D xray in order to make surgery precise, safe and less traumatic.  Before surgery, please eat well, but don’t drink coffee if you have high blood pressure. The doctor will inject local anesthetics around the wisdom tooth. When the surrounding tissue is numb, the doctor will use surgical or non-surgical extraction method according to the position and structure of the tooth. The principles are safety, less trauma, and quick recovery. After the tooth the procedure, sutures are usually required to help stop bleeding and wound healing. The patient can go home after biting on folded gauze.  The doctor will give you a detailed customized instructions so you will have smooth healing.