What does impacted tooth mean?

Teeth that cannot take their place in the mouth for various reasons even though it is time to erupt are called impacted teeth. Sometimes it is not possible to determine exactly where the pain originating from the wisdom tooth, also known as the "mind tooth", comes from. Considering that these pains originate from neighboring areas such as ears, tonsils and sinuses, patients waste time in other branch clinics and their complaints continue. This situation causes fatigue due to malnutrition as well as pain in patients.

Before the age of 18, x-ray films of the patients should be taken and the condition of these teeth should be evaluated. Recurrence of infection caused by delayed extraction is inevitable.

What are the complaints that impacted teeth can cause?

Infection: Food residues constantly enter between the semi-impacted tooth and the gingiva on it. This area cannot be cleaned with a toothbrush, resulting in unwanted conditions such as infection and bad breath. They can cause recurrent infections, especially semi-impacted teeth. These infections are sometimes very severe and may require very severe antibiotic treatment and hospital conditions. Severe infections can cause abscesses in the maxillofacial region and sometimes even infections that spread throughout the body.

Caries: A wisdom tooth in a bad position can cause decay and loss of the adjacent tooth. It can even rot the roots of the tooth in front of it. These bruises can cause severe infections and unbearable pain in the bone.

Bad Breath: The areas formed between the semi-impacted wisdom teeth and the gums may cause bad breath, especially in the mornings, due to the constant escaping of food and the proliferation of bacteria there.

Pressure Pain: If an impacted wisdom tooth applies pressure to neighboring teeth during eruption, a pain may also be felt due to compression. In some cases, the effect of this pressure may also cause cavities in the tooth in front of it. In practice, they can also cause head, eye, face and shoulder pain, the cause of which is unknown.

Crowded Teeth: Although there is no definitive study on this subject, impacted wisdom teeth may cause crowding in the anterior teeth over time.

Focal Infection Focus: The human body is in constant battle 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 blood. This is of great importance in rheumatism and heart patients. Because of this situation, impacted teeth need to be extracted at later ages.

Cyst and Tumor Formation: According to studies conducted in Turkey, the probability of an impacted wisdom tooth damaging the lateral tooth or causing cyst formation is 26%. This is a high rate and indicates that in one in four people, an impacted wisdom tooth causes a cyst to form, damage the anterior tooth, or cause bone destruction. If a cyst has formed, the tooth should be extracted and the cyst cleaned to prevent further growth and bone destruction. Rarely, cysts originating from wisdom teeth can spread to very large areas and are diagnosed on x-rays taken during routine examination. This condition can sometimes progress without symptoms (pain).