Dental Impaction

An impacted tooth is a tooth that, for some reason, gets blocked while it is erupting (pushing) through the gum into your mouth. Sometimes a tooth may be only partially impacted, meaning it has started to break through.

If you're experiencing pain and other unpleasant side effects from an impacted tooth, or if the impacted tooth is suspected to have a negative effect on other teeth, we recommend to extract it out. An impacted tooth can lead to an infection called pericoronitis. If untreated, this infection can spread to the throat or into the neck. Such severe infections require surgery only. At times, impacted tooth may not bother you or affect nearby teeth. In this case, we will not give any immediate treatment but we will recommend that the tooth be taken out to avoid future problems. Often, it is better to have your wisdom teeth taken out before you turn 21. The surgery usually is less complicated. The tissue and bone also heal better. Tooth extraction surgery is usually done in 30-40 minutes which means you can go home the same day. Before removing the tooth, we will discuss the procedure and the type of anesthesia we will use. We advise you not to eat anything for six hours before surgery. Also, someone should be with you to drive you to the appointment and drive you home as you should not drive after the surgery.