Top 7 reasons for removing wisdom teeth

Southern Georgia Oral Surgery - Hinesville Georgia
WWW.SouthernGeorgiaOMS.com

1)  Limited opening
     Commonly known as trismus.  This symptom usually appears when an infection is present with concomitant swelling(abcess or cellulitis).  This condition often occurs when a third molar is partially
erupted and has a food trap resulting in inflammation/erythema.
2)  Ear pain
     Some misinterpret this as an ear infection, but the nerves that give sensation to the tooth is the actual culptrit.  This is called referred pain and the origin of the nerve is in the area of the ear canal.
Many of my patients have been evaluated by their ENT because they think that an ear infection is present.  But to their surprise, there is no ear infection and the pain is comming from an infected wisdom tooth.
3)  Headaches
     The trigeminal nerve has many branches which provides sensation to one half of the face.  This nerve is bilateral and is stimulated only on the affected side.  Typically the headaches resolve once the wisdom teeth are removed.
4)  Loss of adjacent teeth
     If wisdom teeth are impacted(partial or complete bony) there is a possibilty of losing adjacent teeth.  Meaning that wisdom can exert pressure on an adjacent tooth which may result in decay and subsequent loss of a tooth.
5)  Crowding of Teeth
     Wisdom teeth apply pressure to adjacent teeth and eventually in most cases the lower front anterior teeth become crowded.  As a result, the crowding may require the removal of wisdom teeth and eventual orthodontic(braces) treatment.
6)  TMJ(Temporomandibular Joint Disorder)
     Wisodom teeth in the upper jaw can create a problem called TMJ.  In most cases our jaw structure is too small to accomodate all the teeth we have in the upper jaw.  In this case, the wisdom teeth are usually impinged between the adjacent tooth and the coronoid process of the lower jaw.  This arrangement creates limited opening, deviation of the jaw upon opening, locking and clicking, and specific pain to the ear.
7)  Cyst development
      When wisdom teeth do not erupt through the bone and tissue a cyst can develop.  Cysts associated with wisdom teeth are usually benign(dentigerous cyst), but some can become malignant(ameloblastoma).  Numbness, swelling and pain are variant indicators of a cyst.  However, symptoms some times do not appear at all clinically and require a radiograph for diagnosis.  If this occurs, the site will require treatment and continued follow-up over a number of years.

Roger Myers DMD oral surgeon@ Southern Georgia Oral Surgery