Wisdom Tooth Removal In Manchester

A tooth is “impacted” when it is blocked from fully erupting by gum, bone, or another tooth. Wisdom teeth commonly grow at an angle and get stuck partially under the gum or pressing into the molar in front of them. An impacted wisdom tooth can push against neighboring teeth and even damage their roots. It can also remain half-covered by gum, which forms a flap prone to trapping food and bacteria.

When a wisdom tooth only partially erupts, it creates an opening where bacteria can enter the gums, leading to infection of the gum flap – a condition called pericoronitis. Symptoms include pain, swollen gums, and sometimes difficulty opening the mouth ​see our post about wisdom tooth problems​. It often flares up repeatedly. After one or two infections, extraction is usually recommended to prevent further episodes​.

Wisdom teeth located far back are hard to clean properly. Many people can’t reach all the way to the third molar with a toothbrush or floss. This makes wisdom teeth highly susceptible to cavities and gum infection. If a wisdom tooth develops a large cavity or causes gum pockets that harbor bacteria, it might need removal, especially if it’s not positioned well for filling or cleaning.

Sometimes, erupting wisdom teeth put pressure on existing teeth, contributing to crowding or shifting of your bite. This is why orthodontists often caution that wisdom teeth might undo some of the alignment achieved by braces. Removing them can alleviate pressure on the rest of your teeth (though not every case of crowding is due to wisdom teeth).

In rare cases, an impacted wisdom tooth can develop a cyst around it – a fluid-filled sac that can hollow out jawbone or damage adjacent teeth. While not common, such cysts are another reason an oral surgeon might advise extracting an unerupted wisdom tooth.

A dull ache or pressure in the back of your jaw can be one of the first signs. You might feel it when biting down or spontaneously in the jaw area behind your molars. This can indicate an impacted tooth pushing or an infection brewing. Sometimes patients also report ear pain since jaw issues can refer pain to the ear area.

If the gum around a partially erupted wisdom tooth is inflamed, tender, or visibly swollen, that’s a red flag. You might see redness and swelling in the far back area behind your second molars. This often accompanies pericoronitis (gum infection around the wisdom tooth).

Infections around wisdom teeth can produce pus, which has a foul taste and smell. You may notice a bad taste in your mouth even after brushing, or that your breath has gotten worse. These can be signs of trapped food and bacteria around a wisdom tooth causing infection.

A swollen wisdom tooth area can sometimes cause trismus, which is a difficulty or pain in opening the mouth fully​vallancedentalcentre.com. If you find your jaw movement is limited or painful (sometimes called “lockjaw”), an impacted lower wisdom tooth infection might be the cause.

You might see or taste yellow or white discharge (pus) coming from the gum near a wisdom tooth. This is a sure sign of infection.

Although more subtle, you might notice your other teeth becoming a bit more crooked or crowded in the lower front area as the wisdom teeth push in. You may also feel that the eruption of wisdom teeth is changing your bite or how your teeth close together.

You may actually see a wisdom tooth poking through the gums at an angle or only partially. If one corner of the tooth is visible but the rest is covered by gum, it’s likely to cause issues. Food can easily get under that gum flap and lead to pain.

First, the area will be numbed with local anesthetic. For upper wisdom teeth, this means numbing the back upper jaw on that side; for lower, a numbing injection near the back of the mouth to block the inferior alveolar nerve. We ensure your tongue, cheek, and tooth are completely numb. You should feel zero pain – only pressure. If you’re anxious, sedation options are available (e.g. nitrous oxide or IV sedation) so you can be more relaxed or even sleep through the procedure. Under general anesthesia (used in hospital settings for some cases), you’d be unconscious, but this is not usually necessary for most wisdom tooth cases.

If the wisdom tooth is impacted (covered by gum or bone), the surgeon will make a small incision in the gum tissue above the tooth​colgate.com. They’ll fold back that section of gum to see the tooth. Next, any bone covering the tooth may be gently removed with a dental handpiece (drill). For example, if the tooth is lying horizontal in the jaw, there will be bone on top of it that needs removal to create a window to the tooth. This is done carefully, removing only as much bone as necessary. During this, you feel vibrations but no pain. Sterile saline water is used to keep the area cool and rinse away debris.

Wisdom teeth often have awkward shapes or multiple roots, so the dentist will often section it into pieces. Using a drill, they cut the tooth into smaller parts. For instance, the crown (top part) may be separated from the roots, or an upper wisdom tooth might be cut into two halves. This makes removal easier because each piece can come out through a smaller opening. You might hear a grinding sound or feel the pressure changing as the tooth is sectioned – again, this is expected and shouldn’t hurt.

Using small elevators (a tool to lever the tooth) and forceps, the dentist will remove each section of the tooth. You will feel firm pressure and maybe a sensation of something “popping” out as each piece comes free. Sometimes an impacted tooth requires quite a bit of controlled pressure to tease out – you might even hear a crunching noise when it finally dislodges. This is all normal. The dentist systematically removes all parts of the tooth. They’ll double-check the socket to ensure no fragments remain. (It’s surprisingly common for patients to not even realize the tooth is out until we tell them – because all they felt was pressure and they expected pain that never came.)

Once the tooth is out, the area is thoroughly irrigated (flushed) with saline to remove any debris. If the wisdom tooth was infected or there was any cyst, that is cleaned out as well. Then, if an incision was made, the gum flap is repositioned and usually sutured (stitched) back into place. We use dissolvable stitches that will disappear on their own in 1-2 weeks. Occasionally for an upper wisdom tooth, no stitches are needed if it was a small opening. For most lower wisdom extractions, a couple of stitches help the gum heal over. Finally, we place gauze for you to bite on to control bleeding.

You’ll rest and bite on gauze for a bit, as with any extraction. We’ll give you instructions specific to wisdom teeth (like biting on gauze for 30 minutes, not spitting, etc.) and any medications (pain relievers & sometimes an antibiotic). Then you’re all set to be taken home to recover.

Wisdom teeth, especially lower ones, have a slightly higher incidence of dry socket. We take preventive measures like placing medicated dressings if needed and giving strict post-op instructions (no smoking, etc.) to mitigate this. If dry socket occurs, it typically shows up around day 3-5 with throbbing pain; come see us and we’ll treat it promptly to relieve the pain.

The lower wisdom teeth roots sometimes run close to the inferior alveolar nerve (which gives feeling to your lower lip and chin) and the lingual nerve (for tongue sensation). We assess your X-rays to evaluate this risk. In some borderline cases, a special 3D scan is used. If a wisdom tooth’s roots are extremely close to the nerve, we might perform a coronectomy – removing the crown of the wisdom tooth but leaving the roots in place to avoid nerve disturbance (the roots are then typically dormant). This is only done if necessary. Fortunately, permanent nerve damage is rare. You may have temporary numbness or tingling if the nerve was irritated, but it usually resolves​nhs.uk. We use careful techniques to avoid putting traction on the nerve.

Upper wisdoms that are close to the sinus could create an opening into the sinus when removed. We are cautious about this; if it happens, we place additional stitches or even a small patch to close the sinus communication. We’ll advise you not to sneeze or blow your nose vigorously for a few days to allow it to seal. It usually heals uneventfully.

Post-op infection risk is low but present. We might give you an antiseptic mouthwash and in some cases an antibiotic, especially if there was active infection or lots of gum inflammation at the time of extraction. Keeping the area clean with saltwater rinses helps. Signs of infection to watch for are increased swelling or pain after a few days, or discharge from the site. Contact us if you’re concerned.

It’s common to have limited mouth opening (trismus) for a few days after wisdom tooth surgery – this is due to inflammation in the jaw muscles. It can make chewing or speaking a bit uncomfortable initially. Warm compresses and gentle jaw exercises (like slowly opening and closing the mouth) after 48 hours can help loosen things up. It typically resolves within a week or two. We’ll show you some exercises if needed during your follow-up.

The day of surgery, focus on rest. Bite on the gauze as directed (usually change it every 30-45 minutes until bleeding is minimal). It’s best to lie down with your head elevated on pillows. Avoid constantly checking the socket with your tongue – leave it alone. Stick to clear, cold liquids initially (water, cold apple juice, etc.). You likely won’t feel like eating much, and that’s okay. Just drink fluids so you stay hydrated. Start your pain medication as soon as you feel the slightest tingling of sensation returning (don’t wait for full feeling or pain).

For the next few days, eat soft foods that require little chewing. Think smoothies, yogurt, pudding, mashed potatoes, soup (lukewarm, not hot), porridge, scrambled eggs. As you feel more comfortable, you can move to foods like pasta or tender fish. The key is to avoid crunchy, hard, or small-grain foods that can get into the extraction sites ​nhs.uk. Also skip acidic or spicy foods for a few days, as they can irritate the wounds. And no straws for at least 3 days (to avoid suction dislodging clots).

Starting 24 hours after the extraction, gently rinse your mouth with warm salt water several times a day ​colgate.com. Do this especially after eating to flush out any bits that might settle near the sockets. Use about 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water. Tilt your head side to side – don’t swish vigorously. Let it drool out into the sink instead of spitting hard. Continue this for at least a week. You can brush your teeth the night of surgery or next day, but carefully avoid the back areas where the teeth were. It might be too tender to brush there – just rinse. By day 3 or 4 you can lightly brush near the extraction sites if it’s comfortable, but don’t directly scrub the healing tissue.

For swelling, as mentioned, ice packs on day 1 (15 minutes on/off) are very helpful. Usually we see cheek swelling for about 2 days, then it subsides. Some people get slight bruising on their jaw or cheek – that can appear a couple of days later and then fade. It’s normal and no cause for alarm. If your jaw is stiff, after 48 hours you can do warm salt water mouth baths and apply warm moist towels on the jaw to help relax it. Gently opening and closing your mouth (within comfort limits) a few times a day can exercise the muscles and improve range of motion.

Wisdom tooth sites can be sore for a few days. We usually recommend taking ibuprofen regularly (if you can take ibuprofen) because it helps both pain and inflammation. You can alternate it with paracetamol so something is in your system every few hours. For example, ibuprofen at 8am, paracetamol at 11am, ibuprofen at 2pm, and so on. Follow the dosage we provide. If we gave a stronger prescription painkiller, use it as needed (especially before bed the first night, so you can sleep). Most people find by day 3 they can reduce to just ibuprofen as needed.

Don’t rush back into strenuous activities. Give yourself at least 2-3 days of takin’ it easy. This helps prevent complications. Plan to relax and perhaps catch up on some shows or reading. If you had the procedure on a Friday, for instance, take the weekend to recover and you’ll likely be fine for work or school by Monday (assuming it was routine). However, everyone’s different – if your job is very physical, consider a couple more days off. Listen to your body.

We’ll typically schedule you for a post-op check about 7-10 days after surgery. Don’t skip this, even if you feel fine. We want to ensure everything is healing correctly, flush out the sockets if needed, and remove any remaining sutures that haven’t dissolved. It’s also our chance to address any concerns you have and give you the “all clear.” If you have any issues before that (like persistent pain or swelling), contact us sooner.

Our dental team is very familiar with the quirks of wisdom teeth. We stay up-to-date on best practices for third molar surgery. Dr. Arfeen and Dr. Hadi (our lead dentists for oral surgery) have over a decade of experience between them in removing wisdom teeth under local anesthesia and sedation. Because we do these procedures regularly, we can often anticipate potential challenges and address them proactively. This experience translates into smoother surgeries and better outcomes for you.

We will refer for  digital OPG X-Ray, which gives us a full view of all wisdom teeth and vital structures in one shot. If needed, we can refer for a cone beam CT scanner that produces a 3D image of the tooth and jaw. This technology is invaluable for assessing complicated impactions and nerve positions, and it’s available right here or via quick referral. With thorough imaging, we plan the extraction to be as safe as possible – there’s no guesswork about where that nerve or sinus is, we see it clearly ​radiopaedia.org.

One major advantage of coming to us is that if you’re anxious or if multiple wisdom teeth need removal, we can provide sedation to make the procedure easy on you. Not every general dental clinic offers this. We have certification in conscious sedation – meaning we can administer medication that relaxes you while keeping you responsive and breathing on your own. Under IV sedation, many patients doze through the extraction and have little memory of it. This can be a game-changer for nervous individuals. It also allows us to possibly remove all four wisdom teeth in one session comfortably. Your safety under sedation is ensured by our trained team and monitoring equipment. In short, we can take the stress and fear out of the equation for wisdom teeth removal.

Our philosophy is to treat every patient as we would a family member. Wisdom tooth problems can be painful – we strive to get you relief quickly and kindly. From the first phone call where you say you have a swollen wisdom tooth, we prioritize prompt appointments. During consultations, we explain the situation in plain language (showing you the X-rays so you can see that pesky tooth). We never pressure you into treatment – we give our honest recommendation and let you decide. If you choose extraction, we go above and beyond to keep you comfortable (as described earlier – from numbing with care to giving you a cozy blanket if you’re chilly!). After the procedure, we are just a phone call away. This personalized touch can make a big difference in your overall experience. Many patients who have had bad dental experiences elsewhere are amazed at how relaxed they felt with us.

If your wisdom tooth is straightforward, we handle it. If it’s moderately complicated, we still handle it. If it’s extremely complex, we’ll bring in or refer you to an oral surgeon we work closely with. In any scenario, we coordinate everything for you. There’s continuity of care – our office will follow up on your healing even if a specialist was involved. You won’t feel bounced around; we guide you through the whole process. Plus, by attempting treatment in-house first (in cases that are within our capability), we often save patients the higher cost and wait associated with hospital-based extractions.

Being located in central Manchester, we’re easy to get to. You won’t have to travel far for quality care. We also offer convenient scheduling – including early mornings or Saturdays – which can be helpful if you need to plan your surgery around work or studies. We try our best to accommodate urgent cases swiftly, because we know tooth pain can’t wait.