The famous and often annoying "wisdom teeth are the third molars that we find in our mouth, and they are so called because their development coincides with the age of majority.
Wisdom teeth do not always appear in our teeth because they do not form, or even if they do form, they do not erupt. Why? Because of the evolution. Our diet and the function that our teeth perform have changed and, as a consequence, our teeth have become more and more sensitive. jaws (facial bones) develop less, reducing the space for our wisdom teeth.
It is common to notice discomfort due to their position or when they erupt, and there may be a series of complications that force us to extract them. Here are the most common ones.
PERICORONARITIS
The pericoronaritis is one of the most frequent infectious complications in third molars. It is the infection of the soft tissue surrounding the tooth.
What are its main symptoms? First of all, we will feel pain in the region of this tooth, the gum will become reddish and it will ooze. In addition, it will be very difficult to chew and maintain good hygiene in this area, which will worsen the prognosis. In some cases, the problem will go away on its own, but if the symptoms continue, the best thing to do is to extract the wisdom tooth.
CARIES
On many occasions, wisdom teeth are not well oriented and can impact against the nearest tooth, preventing correct oral hygiene. In addition, brushing and maintaining hygiene is complicated by the fact that they are at the end of the oral cavity.
Food debris and bacterial plaque that we do not manage to remove will encourage the presence of bacteria and can lead to a carious lesion.
PERIODONTAL PROBLEMS
Caries is not the only disease that we can suffer from in the mouth; the gums also suffer if too much plaque builds up, leading to problems with bleeding, inflammation and even tooth mobility and loss.
If a wisdom tooth has periodontal problems, nothing happens because we would simply remove it. The problem comes when it causes the same thing to the front toothThe loss of this tooth would be much more serious and could lead to a greater imbalance in the mouth.
ORTHODONTICS
In orthodontic treatment we plan for long-term changes in the position of the teeth. Sometimes the extraction of third molars is indicated with the aim of gaining space and repositioning the teeth, occupying the gap left by these teeth.
Traditionally, it was thought that the force exerted by the "wisdom teeth" produced the crowding of the lower incisors. Today, we know that this is not true and that their extraction is not always necessary.
AUTOTRANSPLANT
The autotransplant is a rather novel treatment and a modern and conservative alternative to the implants that allows us to replace one tooth for another.
When a tooth is too damaged to be restored and we cannot keep it, we extract it and replace it with one of the wisdom teeth.
So now you know, if you have any doubts about whether your wisdom teeth are coming in properly, or if they could be causing you any problems, don't hesitate to visit our clinic and consult a specialist.