Your wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt and are located in the far most area in your mouth. Being that it usually comes out at adulthood, your jaws are already fully developed and cannot adjust to an emerging wisdom tooth.  That being said, your wisdom tooth often does not properly erupt. 

Fortunately, the wisdom tooth does not have tangible benefits in the mouth. So, to prevent the risks that come with keeping it, the safest bet is to have Wisdom Teeth Removal Canberra. This treatment procedure is called Odontectomy.

• Preventive Care

Civic Gentle Dental Care believes that optimum oral health comes from preventing the likelihood of dental problems. As the wisdom tooth is located at the back of the mouth, it is often hard to brush and clean the area, making it more susceptible to tooth decay. Having your wisdom teeth removed before toothaches, gum disease, and jaw problems arise should be considered. 

• Severe Pain

Dental visits associated with wisdom teeth are often due to severe toothaches. This happens when the wisdom tooth forces itself against the tooth next to it and also during chewing when the opposite tooth grinds against the partially erupted wisdom tooth.

• Gum Infection and Inflammation of Soft Tissue

Gum disease may arise with uncleaned food debris stuck in between the adjacent tooth and impacted tooth. Also, a partially impacted wisdom tooth often has soft tissue covering it and when food gets stuck under it, soft tissues may become inflamed.

• Jaw Strain and Difficulty in Opening the Mouth

Pain from an impacted wisdom tooth may radiate on the jaws and cause jaw stiffness. In such cases, patients often complain of soreness when opening the mouth and during eating or speaking.

• Presence of Cysts Associated with an Impacted Wisdom Tooth

The development of a cyst around a fully impacted wisdom tooth is always a possibility. When this happens, the cyst eats up the bone and causes irreversible damage to the jaw bone.

It is important that proper consultation and assessment are carried out before Wisdom Teeth Removal Canberra. X-rays will be taken to serve as a guide for your dentist to determine the position, angulation, and corresponding difficulty of your case.

Medications will also be prescribed to help lessen the pain during and after treatment. Your medical history and other relative conditions are also taken into consideration so proper protocols can be observed, making your treatment as personalised for your care as possible.

The procedure starts with making sure that you are feeling most comfortable and relaxed. Then, the anaesthesia is injected into certain areas to ensure that the entire experience will be as painless as possible. 

When the anesthesia kicks in, our dental professionals will carefully and safely extract the tooth. Your dentist will use the x-ray previously taken as a guide to estimate bone removal if there is any, this makes access to the tooth much easier so extraction can be done as quickly as possible.

When the Wisdom Tooth Removal is accomplished, cleaning the extraction site is important so the closure of the gums and smooth healing is facilitated.

What you do after Odontectomy is just as important as the procedure itself. Our dentists will explain and aptly educate you on how to take care of your wound so as to encourage faster healing and avoid any complications.

Here is a general after-care Wisdom Tooth Removal guide:

1. Pressure and Medications: Immediately after, your dentist will instruct you to bite on a gauze pad to apply pressure on the open wound. Avoid removing this unless the gauze is already soaking wet. Painkillers will be prescribed for pain and, if necessary, antibiotics will also be considered.

2. Bleeding and Jaw Stiffness: After surgery, some bleeding is expected. To help control this, apply cold gauze on the area of the socket. For difficulty and strain with mouth movements, gently press a cold compress on the jaw area for immediate relief.

3. Dietary Choices: While the socket is open and as the gums heal, make sure to only eat soft and cold food. You can slowly return to eating hard, solid food when the wound is at least partially cleaned. This will make sure no food debris gets caught in the open socket.

4. Other Habits: Drinking from a straw or sucking should not be practiced. On the surgery site, a blood clot will form to help with closing the gums. Any movement that may cause clot dislodgment should be avoided.

5. Oral Hygiene: Brushing the extraction site is discouraged as this will cause the clot over the wound to move. Carry on with your normal oral hygiene habits without forceful spitting to avoid clot movement.

6. Rest and Recovery: You are advised to take at least a few days rest, refraining from doing any strenuous activities as this may cause stress and induce bleeding.