The Trouble with Wisdom Teeth
Woodstock General & Implant Dentistry performs wisdom teeth removal (in addition to other tooth extraction procedures) at their office in the Hudson Valley.
Wisdom teeth are the four molars at the far back of your upper and lower jaws. They may have served an important role in the mouths of our early ancestors, but today, their development often causes problems for modern humans.
Wisdom teeth develop after all of the other permanent teeth have settled into position, forming beneath the gums behind our back molars in our teens and early twenties. Sometimes they emerge from the gums without a problem. Other times, the eruption of wisdom teeth can cause damage to the surrounding teeth and invite the bacteria that cause infection.
As a result, it is often advised that young adults have their wisdom teeth removed before the teeth push their way through the gums. In younger patients, the root of the tooth has not formed and attached, making it easier to remove.
Wisdom teeth continue to grow into adulthood and take root in the jaw, making extraction more painful if delayed into the patient’s late 20s or after.