Wisdom Tooth Extraction

Wisdom tooth extraction is the name of the procedure where a dentist extracts your third molar, also known as 'wisdom tooth.’ People whose age is between 18-25 years may experience having an impacted tooth. 

Wisdom teeth are usually extracted to prevent teeth misalignment. A severely impacted tooth may cause multiple symptoms to appear; thus, dentists recommend its surgical removal. With Dr. Hakimi at Glen Park Dental, you can undergo the procedure under either oral or inhalation sedation due to the treatment’s invasive nature.

Before the advent of technology, impacted tooth removal was usually done without proper tools and necessary sedation. Fortunately, modern times have produced safe and sophisticated treatments in extracting impacted teeth while numbing and managing pain during and after the procedure and protecting the jawbones and soft tissues.

Today, all patients who undergo a wisdom tooth extraction are sedated. During the procedure, Dr. Hakimi makes a small incision to extract the impacted tooth, clean the area being treated, and suture it close. After the procedure, Dr. Hakimi or one of our team members will discuss the medicines you should take to manage the pain and some other techniques to reduce swelling and bruising.

At Glen Park Dental, we evaluate the impacted tooth’s position by examining the mouth and taking an x-ray to probe for dental problems that could potentially turn for the worse if not treated early. Our seasoned and highly trained dentists will put the patient under appropriate anesthesia in our office when performing outpatient surgery. Studies show that early evaluation and treatment are highly beneficial to the patients. That is why patients as young as middle schoolers should have their mouth evaluated by a dentist, orthodontist, or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. 

Step 1: Preparation

The dentist or oral surgeon will administer anesthesia to numb the tooth area being treated. Sometimes, they would use nitrous oxide or oral sedation pills so that the patient is sedated during the procedure and would not remember it afterward.

Step 2: Removal of tooth

It is relatively easy to extract wisdom teeth that have grown straight. The dentist can simply pull them out using their tools without necessarily putting you through surgery. However, oral surgery will be required if your teeth are impacted. In this case, the dentist will cut open the gum tissue covering the wisdom tooth. This procedure is done by particularly numbing the treated area first, then making a flap in the gum tissue. The dentist will then extract the tooth out of its socket. In some cases, if the whole tooth does not move while being wiggled, the dentist may need to section it into several pieces first before extracting them one by one.

Step 3: Cleansing

After extracting the tooth, the dentist will clean the whole treated area then suture back the gum tissue flap. He will put gauze in the treated area to halt the bleeding.