Is Oral Surgery Right For You?

You may need oral surgery if one of your teeth is impacted and never came in properly. Most people think of an impacted tooth in relation to a wisdom tooth that only grew in partially or remained under the gums or bone; very often, that is what we see in our Highlands Ranch dental office. Your wisdom teeth can be removed, so they do not create a health risk or possibly push your teeth forward due to a lack of space. However, orthodontics providers also recommend oral surgery for other impacted teeth, and here is why:

Some teeth never grow in correctly.

There are a variety of reasons that this happens, which can include baby teeth remaining in place for too long. If they do not fall out it leaves the permanent tooth inside the gums, unable to descend unless it goes in front of (or behind) the baby tooth. Similarly, if there is just not enough room in the mouth for a tooth, it may never descend.

What should I do with an impacted tooth?

Oral surgery is typically the best option, since otherwise, the tooth will not come down on its own. We can either remove the tooth or bring the tooth down with orthodontics and oral surgery working together. Surgically, the gum must be cut open to expose the tooth. At this point, the surgeon can bond an orthodontic bracket to the lower portion of the tooth so the orthodontics provider can access it and begin to slowly and gently lower the tooth into position.

Can I simply leave the tooth in place?

Yes, but it can pose a health risk. In the case of an impacted wisdom tooth, there is sometimes an area that can trap food, making it all too easy for the back molars to become infected. In the case of a tooth that never descended, leaving it in place can lead to the damage of the tooth roots on adjacent teeth. Essentially, this tooth could disrupt the other healthy teeth and create additional problems for them. The impacted tooth can also develop a cyst or other conditions. Overall, this makes it important to remove an impacted tooth or undergo a treatment to help it descend.

What happens next?

Once the new tooth is in place, it may not be straight. In fact, it is rather unlikely that it will be. In this scenario, a patient may want to undergo an orthodontic treatment to straighten all of the teeth to complete the smile transformation. The patient may elect to do this with traditional braces or clear aligners. Both work well, but it is highly likely that the patient will have already been wearing braces to help pull down the impacted tooth.

The first step in this process is to determine if your tooth is impacted and whether or not you want to remove it using oral surgery. Remember that even if you want to keep the tooth, surgery will begin the process by exposing it. We can explain both solutions further when you come into Colorado Precision Dentistry for a consultation.