Oral Surgery (Extractions)

Wisdom Teeth Extraction

Sometimes there may not be room in your mouth for your wisdom teeth and, as they start to come through, they push against the teeth already there or may start to come through at an angle. When this happens, you might feel some pain or discomfort, so the best thing to do is to visit your dentist. Wisdom tooth extraction is a surgical procedure to remove one or more wisdom teeth — the four permanent adult teeth located at the back corners of your mouth on the top and bottom.

You’ll likely need your impacted wisdom tooth pulled if it results in problems such as:

• Pain
• Trapping food and debris behind the wisdom tooth
• Infection or gum disease (periodontal disease)
• Tooth decay in a partially erupted wisdom tooth
• Damage to a nearby tooth or surrounding bone
• Development of a fluid-filled sac (cyst) around the wisdom tooth
• Complications with orthodontic treatments to straighten other teeth

Wisdom tooth extraction may be done by a dentist or an oral surgeon. To prevent potential future problems, some dentists and oral surgeons recommend wisdom tooth extraction even if impacted teeth aren’t currently causing problems.