Wisdom Teeth

If, like most people, you don’t have enough room in your mouth for your wisdom teeth, then you need to have them removed. At Aesthetic Dentistry of Noe Valley in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California, Nisha Krishnaiah, DDS, Heena Gupta, DDS, and the team of dedicated dental professionals provide safe and effective wisdom teeth removal to give you a healthier smile. To learn more, schedule a

What are wisdom teeth?

Wisdom teeth are your third set of molars that typically emerge in your mouth between 17 and 25 years of age. For some people, wisdom teeth don’t present any concern to their oral health.

For most patients, however, there isn’t enough room in their mouth for an extra set of molars, meaning they need to be extracted.

Why do we have wisdom teeth?

Wisdom teeth were essential to our early ancestors, who needed the extra grinding surface in their mouth in order to properly chew up and digest their food.

Now that we have more advanced cooking technology and utensils to make our food more digestible, wisdom teeth are largely unnecessary. And as we’ve evolved, our jaws have gotten smaller, leaving less room for our wisdom teeth and making them more problematic.

How do you remove my wisdom teeth?

The way that your wisdom teeth are extracted depends on whether or not they’re impacted. Impacted wisdom teeth are those that are unable to fully erupt through the gums and get caught either underneath your gumline or in your jawbone.

If your wisdom tooth is not impacted, your dentist uses a special tool called an elevator to loosen your tooth from its socket. Once it’s sufficiently loose, they pull the tooth out and pack your empty socket with gauze.

If your wisdom teeth are impacted, your dentist has to make a surgical incision in your gums to expose the tooth. If your wisdom tooth is impacted beneath your jawbone, they then have to cut open your jawbone to expose the tooth.

Once your wisdom tooth is exposed, your dentist can extract it. In some cases, they might need to break it up into smaller pieces to aid in the extraction. After they’ve removed the tooth, they stitch up your gum and pack the area with gauze.

Does it hurt to have wisdom teeth removed?

Your dentist administers a local anesthetic before removing your wisdom teeth, so you shouldn’t feel any pain or discomfort during the procedure. At most, you might feel a slight sense of pressure as they are working and removing the tooth.

To have your wisdom teeth evaluated or schedule an extraction, call Aesthetic Dentistry of Noe Valley or request a consultation online today.