If You Don't Remove Impacted Teeth
After an evaluation, your dentist informs you that your wisdom teeth are impacted and suggests they be removed. Impacted simply means the tooth has not come in, or erupted through the gum as expected, or is coming in at a bad angle, or is even being blocked from erupting from overcrowding.
You have decided you do not want to have oral surgery, so you just keep postponing it. After all, you have made it this far, and there are people who never have their wisdom teeth removed. How bad can it be if you do not have your impacted teeth removed?
Leaving your impacted teeth can develop some serious issues. Your dentist sees impacted teeth routinely and has seen the damage they can cause if left. Here are just a couple of examples of what might happen if you do not remove an impacted tooth.
Overcrowding and Damage to Other Teeth
An impacted tooth that is not removed can quickly crowd the other teeth, causing them to shift out of their proper position. This crowding can negatively affect any orthodontic corrections already completed and necessitate repeating corrective alignment. This can be a problem if your jaw is smaller.
Impacted teeth also erupt at unnatural angles, causing more damage and requiring additional treatment.
Increased Decay
Partially impacted teeth are harder to clean than healthy teeth because they are usually at the rear of your mouth. This permits more food and bacteria to become trapped in the impacted teeth, which leads to chronic bad breath, decay, and cavities.
Gum Disease
The increased challenge of cleaning impacted teeth also results in gum disease, which causes pain and swelling around the tooth, and your jaw and cheeks.
Cysts
Impacted teeth can cause a sac to develop that fills with fluid, creating a cyst. The cyst can cause damage to nerves, teeth, and jawbone. It can even turn into a noncancerous tumor that must be removed.
Impacted teeth can result in complications more difficult to treat than simply having the teeth removed. If an infection develops, for example, it can quickly spread to the rest of your body.
The healthiest choice is to have impacted teeth removed when your dentist recommends the procedure. Call to schedule an evaluation and treatment.
Your Outlook
Your impacted teeth may never cause problems and may never need treatment. Treatment is more successful when the impacted tooth has no symptoms. It is a decision about minimizing risk.
Having wisdom teeth removed at an earlier age has better results than waiting. This is because the roots have not completely developed, making it easier to remove the tooth and for healing. As you age, the roots become curved, longer, more rigid, making removal more difficult.
Possible Complications if Impacted Teeth are Not Removed
Complications of an impacted tooth might include:
* Malocclusion, or poor alignment, of your teeth.
* An infection.
* A continuous discomfort in your mouth.
* An abscess of the tooth.
* Damaging plaque buildup between teeth and gums.
* Periodontal disease, or a level of gum disease.
* Nerve damage if the impacted tooth is close to a nerve in your jaw.