For many people, reaching adulthood often means the extraction of wisdom teeth. While that may make someone nervous, wisdom tooth extraction is actually crucial for maintaining the health and appearance of your smile. What is wisdom teeth extraction? Why do so many people require this procedure?
Category: Wisdom Teeth
Is a Root Canal Always Preferable to Extracting a Tooth?
Root canal therapy has been around in one form or another since the mid-18th century when dental surgeon Philip Pfaff placed lead and gold pulp caps to protect infected nerve tissue in decaying teeth. Of course, long before and long since the advent of endodontics (dental treatments concerned with the innermost layer of the tooth),… Read more »
How Much Does It Cost to Have Your Wisdom Teeth Extracted?
When facing the prospect of any dental procedure, from a simple cleaning to oral surgery, cost is always an important thing to consider. Knowing how much of an impact a procedure will make on your finances can relieve undue financial stress, but the exact out-of-pocket cost of your specific treatment plan can vary according to… Read more »
How to Recover Faster After a Wisdom Tooth Extraction
Making the choice to have your wisdom teeth (or your child’s wisdom teeth) removed is a proactive step toward preventing serious oral health problems, like severe gum infection, tooth decay, and gum disease. Before reaping the long term benefits of wisdom teeth extraction, you need to follow your dentist’s post-operative instructions to the letter to… Read more »
How Do Impacted Third Molars Cause Infection?
As we discussed in our last post, the threat of impacted third molars leading to overcrowding of the front teeth is low and therefore not a good reason – on its own – to justify an extraction. However, the possibility of infection of the area around the wisdom tooth, a condition known as pericoronitis, is… Read more »
Do Wisdom Teeth Really Cause Overcrowding?
Wisdom teeth, clinically known as third molars, emerge during the late teen years or early twenties. According to the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, nine out of ten people have at least one impaction, a wisdom tooth that does not fully erupt from the gums or jaw bone. Impacted wisdom teeth are associated… Read more »
A Surprising New Source for Stem Cells: Your Wisdom Teeth
Third molars, also known as wisdom teeth, seem like a significant flaw in an otherwise efficient design. In the rare best case scenario, they grow in normally but serve no real function. More often, however, the wisdom teeth grow in at awkward angles or remain impacted within the gum tissue or the jaw bone, leading… Read more »
Do You Need a Simple or Surgical Wisdom Tooth Extraction?
The average human jaw can accommodate 28 teeth. However, sometime during the late teens or early twenties, about 75% of the population develops four (or more, in some cases) additional molars. These teeth, referred to as wisdom teeth or third molars, can cause crowding if they grow in normally. If they grow in at an… Read more »
How Well Do You Know Your Wisdom Teeth?
When you think about it, wisdom teeth seem like an exercise in poor design. The average human jaw can comfortably accommodate 28 permanent teeth. Yet, sometime around the college years, four additional teeth try to squeeze in there. So, why develop wisdom teeth at all? Today, Cerritos, CA dentist and oral surgery expert, Dr. Shawn… Read more »
What is Advanced Dentistry?
Every dentist can provide routine preventive care, those twice-yearly checkups and cleanings meant to remove built up plaque and tartar and keep an eye on developing oral health issues. But once a serious oral health problem has been diagnosed, who do you trust to provide the cutting-edge care you need to return your smile to… Read more »
