Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ouch!

Unfortunately for some people.. Their wisdom tooth ain't so wise after all... 

Few years back, I realized that I had frequent toothaches.. So, when I check my teeth.. I saw this odd looking tooth emerging out and pressing the last molar tooth... 

Wisdom tooth are a type of molar.. What are molars??? Molars are the chewing teeth found furthest in the back of the mouth. A person's third molars are their wisdom teeth. A person's third molars will erupt (come into place) right behind their second molars (if there is room for them and they are aligned properly).Usually appear between the ages of 17 and 25.. Most adults have four of them.. But it is possible to have more.. And that is called supernumerary teeth.. 



People usually have four wisdom teeth: upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right.

What does impacted mean?? 

An "impacted" tooth refers to a tooth that has failed to emerge fully into its expected position

This happens because there is not enough room in the person's jaw to accommodate the tooth, the tooth's eruption path is obstructed by other teeth or because the angulation of the impacted tooth is improper.

As the teeth develop, it usually affects the other teeth... So, extraction is needed.. This happens when the wisdom teeth has already been impacted or the wisdom teeth could potentially become problematic if not extracted...

Pericoronitis

Pericoronitis can happen due to the fact that it is hard to clean the area around the wisdom.. Therefore, bacteria build up is sure to happen which leads to an infection and inflammation of the area... 

Cavities have the potential to form on any area of a tooth where dental plaque is allowed to remain undisturbed for prolonged periods of time.

Tooth decay due to the wisdom tooth

This means that if the positioning of a wisdom tooth is such that it is difficult to clean (which is quite often the case), then it will be at increased risk for developing tooth decay.

Those are just one of several reasons why it is important to extract the wisdom tooth.. 

So, I went to the dentist the other day.. And she told me that my gums were badly swollen.. Because of that, she can't immediately extract because if she does, the swollen gums will bleed more than usual and that will cause more problems... In fact, she will do a surgery just to extract it... She gave me medications to reduce the inflammation for the mean time.. 

23rd September 2010.. The day I'm going to remove that nuisance out of my mouth.. The dentist said that she needed to remove one side first.. Because it would be too painful for me to extract both sides at one time.. 

To make things worst.. The upper wisdom teeth were way to high up the cavity.. If that teeth were to cause a problem in the future, my face would be so puffy that people would think that I'm fat.. 

Hopefully, all goes well on that day.. Will update more after the surgery.. :) 

Till then.. 

XOXO..