Avoid Anxiety From Wisdom Teeth Extractions
When it comes to having a wisdom tooth extraction, many people have heard about “impaction.” This word causes anxiety and fear, but few know what it really means.
In plain terms, it just means that a tooth is stuck somewhere during the eruption process and unable to fully grow into the mouth. If you just leave the tooth alone, you may need to deal with serious consequences. Here is a short explanation of what’s happening in your mouth and the three categories of impaction…
The 3 Categories of Impaction
- Full Bony Impaction
Do you feel discomfort in the gum tissue behind your last tooth?
Do you feel pressure in the front of your mouth near the lower front teeth?
Do you have a headache?
You may have a full bony impaction where your tooth is almost fully covered by bone. You probably won’t be able to see the tooth, but it is still communicating with the area through the gum tissue behind the last tooth.
Plaque and bacteria can still get through the space between the wisdom tooth and the gum tissue, and your tooth may be trying to push its way out or start rotating. While you may feel some discomfort, 50% of patients with a full bony impaction don’t feel anything at all. The full bony impaction only reveals itself via x-ray tests. - Partial Bony Impaction
Here, your tooth is stuck because it is partially covered by bone. It may hide behind the gum tissue of appear above the gum. While this tooth is only partially impacted, it can produce as much pressure as a full bony impaction.
Plus, it can cause crowding and misalignment. The tooth comes into contact with more gum tissue, making it nearly impossible to clean. This leads to chronic inflammation and irritation. - Soft Tissue Impaction
With this type of impaction, your teeth have just enough room to work their way through the bone, but they don’t get all the way through the gum tissue. Your gum tissue covers the tooth, leaving a big pocket of tissue in the area where the tooth hasn’t fully erupted.
You’ll experience inflammation, irritation and discomfort just like the other two types of impaction because the area cannot be cleaned.
How Soon Do You Need A Wisdom Tooth Extraction?
Due to the body’s immune response, your teeth could be going through some kind of impaction now without even knowing it! However, infected wisdom teeth undergo a chronic and acute infection phase.
At some point, your immune capacity gets overwhelmed, and the infections tips over into an acute phase, which is when discomfort worsens into pain that’s difficult to tolerate. You may experience swelling, pus, bad taste in the mouth, and even have difficulty opening and closing your mouth due to jaw pain.
Some patients have chronically infected wisdom teeth for months or years without even knowing it. However, something will eventually tip the immune system balance, like stress, and the infection will blossom. Stress responses cause the release of stress hormones, which are steroids that can decrease immunity.
In short, the pain of impaction will come out at some point, especially at the “worst time” or when you least expect it!
To avoid this, make an appointment with your oral surgeon to discuss your wisdom tooth extraction. You’ll avoid the longer recovery times, unnecessary pain and infection and even more extensive and costly extraction processes.
Know that stressful situations can cause a reduction in immune response. It is very common for kids to go to college and then call home after a couple of weeks because of wisdom tooth pain. With the new school season starting soon, now is the perfect time to avoid this situation and make your appointment with TheWisdomToothDoc™ well before they leave.