Wisdom Teeth Removal

If you are being administered general anesthesia, your dentist will recommend that you do not eat or drink anything the day of the extraction.

If you are being administered local anesthetic, there is no such requirement. In fact, many people like to eat their favorite food just before the procedure. This is because during the healing process eating will be difficult. Dietary choices will be limited to soft foods that may not be a patient’s ideal choice of meal.

The vast majority of issues that occur with wisdom teeth happen between the ages of 15 and 25. Many people do not have their wisdom teeth removed during this time of their lives, and wonder if they need to have them removed now that they are older.

Not everyone will have issues that arise from their wisdom teeth, some people are genetically lucky. If you are over 30 and have not had any issues, then the chances of future complications that require removal are slim. It can happen, but it’s very rare, and in the majority of cases removal extraction is not required.

It’s very hard to answer this question without a full dental examination. There are cases where there appears to be no need for removal, wisdom teeth can erupt without any problems. It’s always best to get a full dental examination when your child’s wisdom teeth start to come through. There is no substitute for getting expert professional advice on their specific situation from your dentist.

Extraction of a wisdom tooth is much more difficult (and recovery times are greater) after the age of 30. If extraction is required at a later date, it can become a much larger ordeal for your child. Even the slightest signs of complication in younger people are often met with extraction recommendations from most dental surgeons.

Most dental insurance plans will partially cover a wisdom tooth removal that is medically necessary. This means that in most cases your insurer will only cover treatment that has been recommended to you by your dentist. If you decide you wish to take preventative action and have your wisdom teeth removed, you may find yourself uncovered.

This is obviously only a general overview, some comprehensive policies actually cover the entire cost of wisdom teeth removal. As always, we highly recommend that you check with your insurance company before starting any dental treatment to avoid unwelcome surprises.

For genetic reasons that are still not fully understood, there is a significant difference in the amount of wisdom teeth people have. It is usual to have between 2 and 4 wisdom teeth, but some people can have as little as 1 wisdom tooth (or even none).

Wisdom teeth are usually more complicated and difficult to remove than other teeth for several reasons. The main reason is that the jawbone in the rear of the mouth where wisdom teeth are located is much thicker and denser than it is in the rest of the mouth. Additional complications come from the often, unusual angles of the roots of wisdom teeth (and the fact that they can often have multiple roots).

To make things even more difficult wisdom teeth are often covered by gum and bone which needs to be removed before extraction (unlike other teeth). When dental surgeons do this, they need to be careful about damaging nerves and blood vessels that can be covering the eruption site.

This is a very personal decision that ultimately needs to be decided on an individual basis. Pain and discomfort can be slightly more intense if you have multiple wisdom teeth removed at the same time. However, in most cases, the difference is reasonably negligible. Healing times remain the same regardless of how many teeth you are having removed as they all heal simultaneously.

One of the main reasons people have all their wisdom teeth removed at the same time is due to simple economics.

The cost of the actual extractions does not usually come down with some kind of “bulk discount”. However, the anesthetic only needs to be applied once. This allows for (not insignificant) savings for patients that deal with all of their wisdom teeth in a single appointment. Additionally, when multiple wisdom teeth are being removed at the same time, the patient becomes a much more viable candidate for general anesthesia. As previously mentioned, this can remove much of the discomfort of the procedure.