What is oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery?
Oral, dental and maxillofacial surgery, commonly known as maxillofacial surgery in our country, covers surgical procedures on impacted teeth.
What are impacted teeth?
Teeth that cannot take their place in the mouth for various reasons, even if it is time to erupt, are called impacted teeth.
What complaints can impacted teeth cause?
INFECTION: Food residues constantly penetrate between the semi-included tooth and the gum there. This area cannot be cleaned with a toothbrush, leading to undesirable conditions such as infection and bad breath. They can cause recurrent infections, particularly in semi-included teeth. These infections, which occur in the soft tissues, are sometimes very severe and may require antibiotic treatment and very severe hospital conditions. Severe infections can cause facial swelling, submaxillary abscesses and even infections that spread to the cheeks, neck and chest.
ODOUR: Due to the growth of bacteria in the areas formed between the semi-included wisdom teeth and the gums, food residues can cause bad breath, especially in the morning.
CARY: A wisdom tooth in the wrong position can lead to decay and the loss of the adjacent tooth. It can even cause the roots of the tooth in front to rot. These cavities can cause serious bone infections and excruciating pain.
PRESSURE PAIN: If an impacted wisdom tooth puts pressure on neighbouring teeth during eruption, compression pain may be felt. In some cases, this pressure causes wear.
CROSSED TEETH: Although there are no definitive studies on this subject, impacted wisdom teeth can cause crowding of the front teeth over time.
HEADACHES: these can cause headaches, pain in the eyes, face and shoulders, the cause of which is not clear in practice. The pain is sudden, continuous and does not respond to any analgesic.
FOCAL FOCUS OF INFECTION: The human body is constantly at war with bacteria that accumulate around impacted teeth and cannot be cleaned. This means that there is a constant influx of bacteria from impacted teeth into the bloodstream. This is particularly important for patients suffering from rheumatism and heart disease. It is therefore necessary to extract impacted teeth at older ages. As patients age, tooth extraction becomes more difficult due to the difficulty of extracting impacted teeth and the lack of normal general health.
KYST AND TUME FORMATION: According to studies carried out in Turkey, the probability of an impacted wisdom tooth damaging the side tooth or causing cyst formation is 26%. This rate is high and indicates that in one person in four, an impacted wisdom tooth causes a cyst to form, damages the front tooth or causes bone destruction. If a cyst has formed, the tooth must be extracted and the cyst cleaned to prevent bone growth and destruction. Although cysts originating from wisdom teeth can rarely extend over very large areas and are diagnosed by chance on X-rays, they do not cause the patient the slightest discomfort. According to a study carried out on the Turkish population, it has been shown that impacted teeth can cause benign or malignant tumours, albeit very rarely.
Who can pull impacted teeth?
Dentists receive special training to become specialists in oral, dental and maxillofacial diseases and surgery, popularly known as maxillofacial surgeons in our country. During the course of their specialisation, they perform surgery on impacted teeth as a matter of routine.
Why is it necessary to extract a malpositioned wisdom tooth, even if it causes no discomfort?
Tooth malposition alone is a sufficient cause of infection. In such a case, the likelihood of the problems mentioned is very high. What’s more, such problems can develop suddenly and unexpectedly. Impacted teeth should be extracted as soon as they are noticed to prevent future complaints (infection, cyst, etc.).
When is the best time to have wisdom teeth extracted?
Theoretically, it’s when 2/3 of the tooth root has formed, which often coincides with the 18-22 age group. Operations at a younger age are technically easier and recovery is quicker.
