Wisdom Tooth Extraction: What to Expect

Have you been putting off scheduling your wisdom tooth extraction? 

We’ve got good news for you: Daniel Park, DDS, at Beaumont Cherry Valley Dental can guide you through the process, so you can know what to expect every step of the way. And you can also rest easy knowing that you can face the procedure without fear, anxiety, or pain, thanks to local, intravenous, or general anesthetics.

If you need to have your wisdom teeth removed, here’s what you can expect during and after your appointment.

The purpose of wisdom tooth extractions

Your wisdom teeth are the last of your adult teeth to appear, often between ages 17-25. However, they aren’t quite as straightforward as the other teeth in your mouth. 

To start, not everyone has wisdom teeth. But, if you do, they can cause issues. For many people, there usually isn’t enough room for them to develop or grow into the mouth properly. This can lead to numerous complications, including an impacted tooth.

Impacted wisdom teeth can cause numerous problems, because they often grow at awkward angles, such as toward the back of the mouth, toward a neighboring tooth, or even at a right angle, as if lying down in the jaw. A wisdom tooth can also become trapped inside the jawbone, unable to emerge at all.

As a result, wisdom teeth can cause a variety of issues, such as:

• Pain
• Overcrowding
• Tooth decay 
• Damage to surrounding bone or teeth
• Cysts in tissue around the wisdom tooth
• Increased risks of infection or gum disease.

Extracting these teeth can help you intervene in a serious issue or keep one from occurring.

What to expect during your procedure

Dr. Park uses various approaches to extract wisdom teeth based on their location and complexity. For straight-forward, nonimpacted teeth, Dr. Park can often use a local anesthetic and remove the tooth with forceps while you’re awake.

However, most wisdom teeth need surgical extraction. If you need surgery, it could involve:

• Making an incision in the gum tissue to access the tooth
• Removing the tooth whole or dividing the tooth into sections for easier removal
• Removing any bone tissue that’s preventing access to the tooth root

In these cases, Dr. Park typically uses local anesthetics, intravenous sedation, or general anesthesia, depending on the complexity of the procedure required for extraction, to guarantee your comfort throughout the process.

Finally, after extracting your wisdom teeth, Dr. Park cleans the site and closes the wound with stitches, if necessary. Finally, he applies gauze to the area to manage bleeding and support blood clot formation

What to expect after your extraction

Once you recover from your anesthesia and feel ready, you can go home to begin your recovery. 

As your anesthetic continues wearing off, it’s normal to start experiencing some pain and swelling. It’s also common to have blood in your mouth periodically during the first day. Dr. Park provides detailed instructions to manage all of these symptoms, including how and when to take medications and use ice packs to ease discomfort.

You can eat very soft foods after having your wisdom teeth removed, and you can typically resume normal activities within a day. However, you should avoid things that could dislodge the blood clot at your extraction site, including:

• Smoking
• Using a straw
• Spitting 
• Strenuous exercise

In most cases, you should start feeling like yourself again within 3-4 days. However, it can take up to a week to recover if you need a more complex extraction procedure. And, regardless of your procedure, it often takes several months for your surgical wound to completely heal.

Do you still have your wisdom teeth? Dr. Park can perform a comprehensive assessment to see whether you should consider getting them removed. To learn more, call 951-845-2661 to book an appointment with Beaumont Cherry Valley Dental today.