Your Complete Guide to Impacted Teeth

An impacted tooth is blocked from breaking through the gum due to various reasons. A tooth becomes impacted when an individual’s mouth doesn’t have enough space for it. This condition can be a result of genetic or orthodontic treatment. Wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, are mostly the impacted teeth.

The mouth or jaw may be too small to accommodate them. Since they are not really important, doctors recommend removing them. Usually, people with small jaws tend to have impacted teeth in general. Just like the wisdom teeth, the second most impacted teeth are the canines, also referred to as upper eyeteeth. Since these teeth play a more important role in your mouth, doctors don’t recommend removing them or treating them enough.

Now that we know what impacted teeth are, we must also understand certain complications, treatments and symptoms that come along with impacted teeth.

Symptoms of impacted teeth

In most cases, the impacted tooth may cause the following symptoms:

• Red, swollen or bleeding gums

• Bad breath

• Bad taste in your mouth

• Difficulty while opening the mouth

• Pain while chewing or biting

If you face any such problems, it is highly recommended to consult an orthodontist to have healthy oral health because there comes a lot of problems with bad oral health and hygiene.

Causes of impacted teeth

Wisdom teeth tend to become impacted teeth because of less room to come in or develop normally. Usually, wisdom teeth emerge between the age of 17 and 25. In a few cases, wisdom teeth emerge without any problem; however, in many cases mouth is too crowded for third molars to develop normally.

Impacted wisdom teeth can emerge partially so that some of the crowns are (partially impacted) visible or may not break through the gums (fully impacted). Partially or fully impacted teeth may grow at an angle towards the next tooth and grow at an angle to the back of the mouth. This leads to certain complications such as damage to other teeth, decay, cysts, gum disease etc.

Treatments of impacted teeth

If you suspect an impacted tooth, first consult a doctor as soon as possible. The orthodontist will examine your teeth by taking an x-ray of the mouth. If it shows any symptoms, the doctor will further recommend the benefits and risks of the treatment. Some of the treatments for impacted teeth are listed below:

1. Waiting and monitoring

If the impacted tooth does not cause any symptoms, the dentist will suggest a wait-and-see approach. They might not suggest you go for impacted tooth removal or any sort of surgery; rather, they will regularly monitor your tooth. For this to happen, you need to go for regular dental checkups.

2. Surgery

If you experience pain or other unusable problems like bleeding gums while chewing and biting, your dentist may suggest an impacted tooth removal surgery. Not just in this case, but they might also suggest surgery if the impacted tooth has a negative effect on other teeth. The surgery will usually take up 45-60 minutes, and you will be good to go.

3. Eruption aids

Since the canines are most likely to be impacted, this treatment may be used to erupt the teeth completely. This process may include braces, brackets or extraction of baby or adult teeth. It is most effective when performed at an earlier stage.

This is all that you should take note of, and immediately consult a dentist if you have impacted teeth. You can consult a dentist or book your appointment on the official website of toothsi by makeO. A team of well-trained dentists to guide you for proper treatment and bring that brighter smile to your face full of confidence.

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makeO will offer expert-backed oral and skin care solutions such as teeth alignment with clear aligners, laser hair removal, hydra facial, acne treatment services, anti-ageing treatments, and premium products, including electric toothbrush, teeth whitening kit, aligner cleaning foam, face wash, toner, etc. – all of which are available directly at customers’ doorstep as well as at makeO experience centres and partner clinics.