All The Wisdom About Your Wisdom Teeth
Did you know if your wisdom teeth come in late in your life, that can be a sign that you will have a long life? Well, considering the agony caused by wisdom teeth, one or two wrinkles in your face can certainly be attributed to your wisdom teeth. The validity of this myth between wisdom teeth and your longevity can be up for debate, but the pain and suffering associated with wisdom teeth are entirely real. In fact, it is hard to find an adult who hasn’t gone through the pain of wisdom teeth at least once in life. The pain gets so torturous that many of us have to resort to the removal of wisdom teeth. Not to mention that the removal of such a pain source will greatly boost your confidence, and you can get beautiful smiles with this dentist in massapequa ny.
However, not all people develop wisdom teeth. About two-thirds of the population is born with wisdom teeth. And to nobody’s surprise, 90% of them face complications for their wisdom teeth. If you are part of that unfortunate group and are born with troubling wisdom teeth, read on to learn what you need to do about it.
What Are Wisdom Teeth?
Wisdom teeth grow at the very back of your mouth, behind the molar teeth. They usually grow around the late teens or early twenties; in some cases, even later than that. As they come up, when you are a grown person, they are called wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth often tend to grow crookedly, misaligning all the other teeth beside them, causing toothache and suffering.
As wisdom teeth come out later in our lives, it grows in limited space. This can cause it to grow misaligned, stay hidden between gum and jawbone. As a result, we need to rush to the dentist to get it sorted. It is better to fix as soon as your wisdom teeth show signs of deformity, rather than waiting for the pain to get severe. If you live in Colorado, you can check out Wisdom Teeth Removal Denver to remove your wisdom teeth.
Why Do We Have Wisdom Teeth?
The origin of wisdom teeth is entirely valid when you take into account the evolution process. Wisdom teeth are our third set of molars, which are meant for grinding foods. Our ancestors didn’t know how to cook foods and meats; they had to rely on their teeth’s strength to tear up raw meats. Well, obviously, that is not the case for us these days; now that we no longer need to eat raw meats and we have our forks and knives, our wisdom teeth are sitting there, entirely idle.
Well, not entirely idle, it does declare its presence by some occasional pains. Being confined to a small space, wisdom teeth can sometimes come out of the gum partially or stay trapped between your jawbone and gums, causing you pain.
How Did Wisdom Teeth Become Such A Nuisance?
If you wonder why it hurts when wisdom teeth come out, that is also an inconvenience of evolution. Our ancestors had a smaller brain and larger jaw; we have a larger brain and a smaller jaw. Our body needed to readjust our skeletal structure to accommodate the more developed and larger brain by compromising the jaw space. But this was fair as long as our body got the memo not to develop an additional pair of molars, as now that we have smaller jaw space.
As it turns out, the gene responsible for developing our teeth didn’t pay any attention to this inconvenience. It went ahead with its pre-programmed strategy, and as a result, almost 65% of the human population is born with completely useless wisdom teeth. Besides, the position of wisdom teeth at the very back of our mouth makes it all the more challenging to keep it clean and hygienic, making it all the more troublesome.
Do All People Develop Wisdom Teeth?
Not all people develop wisdom teeth; whether you have wisdom teeth depends on your gene structure. If your parents didn’t have wisdom teeth, you have less chance of developing it. Many scientists suggest humans are going through microevolution of third moral hypodontia by not being born with wisdom teeth. Around 35% of the human population is now born without wisdom teeth, where about 20-35% of the population develops one to three wisdom teeth.
What Are The Complications Caused By Wisdom Teeth?
Because of their unfavorable position and untimely growth, wisdom teeth might cause you a myriad of complications. Because of these complications, every year, around ten million wisdom teeth are removed in the USA. Here are some common wisdom teeth complications that you can face.
Toothache
Wisdom teeth pains are the most common sign of having impacted teeth. The pain can be mild or severe. It can often intermittently last for several years or come seeming nowhere overnight, causing you acute distress- making it hard for you to chew, swallow, or even talk.
Wisdom teeth pain can stem from the teeth poking at your nerve, growing it unfavorably, or even oral infection. In most cases, the pain can be mistyped as some other problems, as your jaw is in close contact with the side of your skull and ear.
Oral Infection
As wisdom teeth erupt, breaking the gum tissue, bacteria get inside the gum through that surface break, resulting in oral infection. Besides, the odd position of wisdom teeth makes it hard for us to clean them regularly. This can aid the rampant growth of bacteria and germs in your gums. If you develop an oral infection, you can have various degrees of pain, bleeding gums, redness or swelling in the gum, tender jaw, and bad breath.
Impacted Tooth
When your wisdom teeth don’t get a chance to surface due to lack of space, it can remain trapped under your gum surface and cause pain. Although it is not visible in your mouth, the pain itself is enough to let you know you have impacted wisdom teeth. Impacted teeth can press against other teeth causing tooth decay or develop cysts with accumulated fluid in the tooth sac causing damaged nerve or jawbone. In rare cases, the cyst can grow into a non-cancerous tumor, which requires surgical removal.
Gum Swelling and Inflammation
Gum swelling and redness come hand in hand with oral infection and pain. Gum swelling can make it painful for you to swallow and talk. Any slight movement of the jawbone can trigger immediate pain and keep you in constant discomfort. Acute swelling or infection can result in fever or swelling of your lymph node in the neck.
Developing Cavities
Foods can get stuck around your molars as your wisdom teeth erupt. This can quickly end up developing a cavity. To add to it, brushing or flossing your molars is hard, aiding swift development of the cavity. Cavities can cause further complications if coupled with bacteria.
Misaligned Teeth
Impacted wisdom teeth can grow sideways or even aligned with your jawline, causing sideways pressure to the remaining teeth. Although this minuscule pressure is not enough to shift the position of all of your teeth, it can create significant discomfort to the adjacent teeth. Misaligned wisdom teeth can also cause tissue or nerve damage.
When Should You See A Dentist about your Wisdom Teeth?
In many cases, it is hard to decipher whether your wisdom teeth are causing you problems or if there is another oral condition. However, a dentist and dental X-ray visit can pinpoint your cause of the problem. If you have unbearable pain, your dentist might suggest surgical removal of your wisdom teeth. Removal of wisdom teeth is better to execute as early as your problem gets detected.
However, if you have a larger jaw structure that can accommodate all 32 of your teeth, you might face little to no problem with your wisdom teeth. In this case, your wisdom teeth get enough space to grow properly, causing no harm.
What Happens When You Don’t Remove Your Wisdom Teeth?
Dentists recommend removing wisdom teeth for several different reasons. About 90% of people face complications with their wisdom teeth. If you don’t remove your wisdom teeth in time, you develop a higher chance of bacterial infection, overcrowding of your teeth, and other gum diseases. These problems can result in expensive treatment and painful consequences.
How Do You Remove Wisdom Teeth?
Surgical extraction of wisdom teeth may require local or general anesthesia to numb your mouth. If your wisdom teeth are still buried inside your gum line, then a surgical incision must be made to reach it. If it is difficult to extract all at once, your dentist might suggest crushing the tooth into several pieces to remove them one by one. The incision gets stitched up later on.
The whole process might last 20-60 minutes, depending upon your oral condition. If you have dissolving stitches for your procedure, they will need about 7-10 days to dissolve. You might have to maintain some caution to help you heal your gum, such as not rinsing your mouth with liquid, drinking hot or cold water for at least 24 hours.
On a final note, as fun and exciting it is to lose your teeth when you are a kid, it is all the more painful and troublesome to remove them in your adulthood. It is more complicated for wisdom teeth as it stays hidden at the very back of your mouth, often even staying hidden from sight but causing trouble nonetheless. Wisdom teeth extraction is a complicated process, and if it goes wrong can make you suffer for a long time. To get your wisdom teeth extracted, you need to find an expert dentist who can cater to your unique needs. So, stop neglecting the occasional pain you are facing, visit your nearby dentist to get it sorted out.
