An adult human might have a maximum of 32 teeth, aligned in two jaws-the upper and the lower jaw. As an infant, you would have temporary teeth. As you grow, the temporary teeth give way to permanent teeth.
Each of the four hindmost molars in your mouth is usually known as wisdom teeth, which starts to appear when you reach the age of twenty. Wisdom teeth are believed to be nothing but evolutionary relics. The distant ancestors of humans fed on a diet consisting of rougher foods like sticks and reed plants.
With evolution, these teeth wore down or fell out, and wisdom teeth provided the replacements. With the advancement of oral hygiene and modified diets, the replacement teeth do not find much application. Your mouth can hold 28 teeth essentially. With four wisdom teeth at the end or either side of both jaws, you can have 32 teeth, but then all the teeth would vie for space to grow and develop.
Symptoms of Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth emerge and make their presence felt. You can experience the development of wisdom teeth with the following symptoms.
You can feel sheer pain at the back of the mouth, behind the molars. As the wisdom tooth would grow sideways, the intensity of pain would increase.
Redness or swelling of the gums is a common symptom of the development of wisdom teeth. As the wisdom tooth grows by erupting the gum surface, it enables bacterial infection.
It is often possible that other teeth or jawbones hinder the erupting and development of the wisdom teeth. Although the tooth cannot grow, the roots elongate and impact the neighboring teeth.
Foul breath and bad taste while chewing food is also a common symptom of growing of wisdom teeth.
Prolonged disruption of the growth of wisdom teeth might lead to tooth decay of the neighboring teeth as continuous pressure might lead to infection of the gums and, in turn, might result in tooth decay.
Treatment of Wisdom Teeth
When the development and growth of wisdom teeth pose a threat and cause discomfort, you might need to go for wisdom teeth extraction. Although you might not need a tooth extraction in the first place. You should pay a visit to the dentist who can ascertain the necessity of wisdom tooth extraction.
Some dentists might also extract the healthy molars to provide room for the growth of neighboring teeth. Apart from causing intense pain, wisdom teeth can pose a severe threat to your healthy life.
Damage to Neighboring Teeth
The last teeth on either side of each jaw can pose a severe threat to your healthy lifestyle. They can cause severe pain and biting problems.
Damage of the Jaws
When a tooth grows, it requires sufficient space. The growth of wisdom tooth cuts short the required space and cysts can be formed around the growth of new teeth. If left untreated, the cyst can make the jaws hollow.
Sinus
Intense pain of the jaws and oral cavity due to the growth of wisdom teeth can lead to sinus pain and congestion that can be equally annoying and troublesome.
Inflamed Gums and Cavities
When a tooth erupts, the gum can swell and create pockets between the teeth. The bacteria can thrive in these pockets and are hard to clean due to a shortage of space. You might need to extract the wisdom tooth to wade off infection.
Alignment
Overcrowding of teeth can lead to mis-angled and wrongly aligned teeth. The shape and structure of the jaws get deformed, and extraction of the wisdom tooth is the only way to align the neighboring teeth.
Wisdom Tooth Extraction at Urban Smiles Dental
At some point or the other, extraction of a wisdom tooth might be necessary. With state-of-art facilities at Urban Smiles Dental, we provide varied services ranging from cosmetic dentistry to dental implants. With the usage of advanced technology, tooth extraction has been easy.
A wisdom tooth can be extracted at $200 only. Wisdom tooth removal cost is lesser than that of an impacted or broken tooth. Most health insurance covers the expenditure of tooth extraction.
At Urban Smiles Dental, we are dedicated to serving you comprehensively. You can visit us along with children as we have special care for your child as you undergo dental treatment.
The wisdom tooth can be a nuisance, and it is better to consult your dentist and go for a wisdom tooth extraction. What are you waiting for? Book your appointment with the best Dentist in Wicker Park.