Some think it would be better to extract a wisdom tooth after it has fully erupted. However, what we see may not represent the whole picture. It’s possible that the wisdom tooth has completely erupted, but in a wrong position and direction, leading to a misunderstanding that it is just about to erupt. 

    Actually, it’s rather hard to get a clear picture on teeth condition by naked eyes, especially for wisdom teeth erupting at backmost positions. In some cases, only a small part of them is present above gums, while the rest of them is buried deep inside alveolar bone. That’s why X-ray film is required to get a clear look at them. 

    Can a wisdom tooth be removed before it reaches full eruption? According to dentists from AKJ Dental Hospital, it depends. The eruption of wisdom tooth can be roughly divided into the following three types. 

    1.Wisdom teeth have fully erupted in right positions. Moreover, they have a perfect match on the other dental arch, producing a normal occlusion. On such circumstance, it’s usually fine to keep them in mouth since they cause no trouble. Though rare, it does exist.

    2.In most cases, wisdom teeth erupt partially, with part of them hiding beneath gums. That’s what we call impacted wisdom teeth. An thorough check-up should be scheduled first to see the dental condition, and usually an extraction will be required. 

    Partially erupted wisdom teeth will form corners which are easy to get food trapped but hard to get cleaned. As such, the surrounding soft tissues are susceptible to inflammation, known as pericoronitis of wisdom tooth. When that happens, there will be red and swollen gums along with a lot of pain, casting an impact on daily practices such as speaking, drinking and dinning.

    What’s worse, long-term food entrapment is set to fuel bacterial growth, probably resulting in caries of the adjacent second molars or even periodontal disease.

    3. In addition, some wisdom teeth may grow beneath gums, completely invisible to naked eyes. X-ray films are required to see them clearly. If they are far away from other teeth and cause no trouble yet, we can just leave them alone but still need to observe them .  

    From what mentioned above, do you get a rough idea whether your wisdom teeth need removing or not? Schedule a check-up and consult with a dental professional to get a customized advice. 

    Please feel free to contact me if there’s any dental problem. (WeChat ID: aiyuan325180)