Do you have bad pain in the back of your mouth from a tooth that hasn’t emerged? Perhaps your son or daughter has some teeth that just have not grown in. You may have impacted teeth, a condition in which an adult tooth does not emerge from the gum line but instead is misaligned or otherwise damaged. Impacted teeth can be very painful. We often encourage impacted teeth removal unless we can fix them. At Lovett Dental Corpus Christi, we encourage you not to wait for this type of treatment.
Why Do Impacted Teeth Occur?
Tooth impaction can occur for various reasons. Most of the time, genetics is at fault. The teeth under the gumline do not have the proper position or may not have the proper room to emerge. In the case of impacted wisdom teeth, they may come in at an odd angle, causing the other teeth nearby to be pushed out of the way.
How Is Tooth Impaction Treated?
When you come into our offices, we provide a full exam and X-rays. We want to find out what’s happening and why. We then make recommendations based on what we find.
Canine Teeth in Children
In some situations, children between the ages of 10 and 12 may need to deal with impacted teeth. The canine adult teeth may not fully come in because of crowding in the mouth or other concerns. Our goal in this situation is to move the teeth to make room when possible. We can do this with dental braces at our pediatric dentistry.
Impacted Wisdom Teeth
We often recommend the removal of wisdom teeth even if they are not impacted. These teeth do not serve a real purpose, and they tend to bring with them numerous complications. That’s because they are hard to clean and maintain. Impacted wisdom teeth, those coming in improperly, are even more at risk of causing damage or decaying too soon. We nearly always recommend impacted teeth removal in this type of situation.
The Impacted Teeth Removal Process
If impacted teeth removal is necessary, you will have a formal exam by an oral surgeon and the oral surgery set up for you. This is often done for impacted wisdom teeth or serious tooth impaction in other teeth. Here’s what you can expect.
- You’ll have sedation dentistry to put you to sleep, so you have no pain.
- The gum is cut, the tooth is exposed, and the tooth is then removed.
- The entire procedure takes about an hour in most cases.
- You’ll have stitches that will dissolve and the need to take antibiotics.
- We’ll give you specific steps to follow for your recovery.
Once you have the tooth extracted, you can be pain-free right away. Impacted wisdom teeth can heal over a series of weeks.
Are Your Teeth Healthy?
While we provide tooth impaction services on a stand-alone basis in our Texas office, we also want to encourage you to come in for routine dental work and exams. This is the best way to prevent problems and to ensure your teeth are as healthy as possible. We may recommend additional dental services for you to improve your oral health. This may include:
- General teeth cleaning
- Tooth extractions
- Periodontal disease treatment
- Dental implant procedures
- Orthodontic treatments and solutions
Get Dental Pain Relief from Lovett Dental Corpus Christi
Impacted teeth can be painful, especially if you wait too long to deal with the tooth impaction. We provide comprehensive help for you, including impacted teeth removal when that is the only option. If you have impacted wisdom teeth or your child may have damage, reach out to our professionals today for an appointment. Call Lovett Dental Corpus Christi at 361-986-1117 today.