Between the ages of 11 and 17 years old, your body goes through many changes.

And while the memory of adult teeth erupting can seem like a distant (and painful!) memory, for many people, their teenage years are overshadowed by the eruption of 4 more teeth in the mouth.

Known as wisdom teeth, these 4 molars appear at the back of the mouth, 2 on the top jaw and 2 on the bottom and, to be frank, they can cause a lot of issues. Why? Because they tend to erupt when your adult teeth are set nicely in your jaw. And as you can imagine, your adult teeth don’t take kindly to surrounding teeth popping up and crowding their space.

At Amsel & Wilkins, we have years of expertise dealing with problematic wisdom teeth and will conduct an assessment of these late bloomers to establish whether they need to be removed. If they do, our dentist in Banbury will remove them painlessly and easily, allowing your mouth to be free of pressure and crowding. Perfect!

So, what are some of the signs that those new wisdom teeth are going to be problematic? Read on to find out!

Discomfort

As you can imagine, when you have a new tooth coming through, it is going to be a bit uncomfortable.

However, if this discomfort persists when your wisdom teeth have fully erupted, then you need to see our dentist in Banbury for an assessment. The discomfort may be persistent or may occur when you are chewing food and can even take the form of sensitivity when consuming hot or cold liquids.

Swelling

Again, an erupting tooth does not occur without a fair amount of swelling, but our dentist in Banbury advises that all people with erupting wisdom teeth keep an eye on the swelling.

If it looks darker than the surrounding gum, is uncomfortable or is becoming too swollen for you to close your mouth properly, contact our team.

Bleeding

Excessive amounts of bleeding from an erupting wisdom tooth can point towards an issue. This indicates that the tooth may be impacted (not fully erupted) and is moving, causing the bleeding.

Should this occur, you need to contact our team who can assess if the tooth can be accommodated in your mouth or needs to be extracted by us.

Stiffness

A stiff jaw or issues with opening your mouth wide can also point to a problem with wisdom teeth.

As they erupt, the swelling or the tooth itself can put pressure on the surrounding nerves and cause problems with movement throughout your mouth and jaw. If you notice an issue with moving your mouth, jaw or tongue since you have had wisdom teeth erupting, please contact our team for an assessment.

Foul odour or taste

A sure-fire sign that there is an issue with your wisdom teeth is a foul taste or smell in your mouth.

This points towards an infection in or under the tooth, which requires urgent medical attention to resolve.

While many people have had a sore tooth at some point during their lives, in most cases it can be resolved by a filling or a crown.

But if you have a tooth that is eroded by decay or you are preparing for orthodontics, you may need to have a tooth extracted or pulled.

And this can be intimidating, even for adults! But as is the way with most areas of dental care, the more you know about each procedure, the less anxious you will feel.

And at Amsel & Wilkins, while we will try and save every tooth if possible, should your tooth need pulling, our dentist in Banbury can make the experience comfortable for you. Using our state-of-the-art technology and tools, we aim to make all dental experiences as pleasant as possible and will endeavour to look after you and your family with the treatments we offer.

So, with that in mind, what are the different types of dental extraction that our dentist in Banbury can perform? Yes, that’s right, there is more than one type! Read on to find out!

Simple extraction

As the name suggests, this type of extraction is, well, simple and involves the removal of teeth whose crowns are visible in the mouth. This type of extraction is usually performed if you are having braces fitted, are having a wisdom tooth extraction or to prevent overcrowding.

In this instance, our dentist in Banbury will use a local anaesthetic to numb the area and will grasp the tooth to remove it.

During this, it is likely you will feel a sensation of pressure, which is totally normal. Once complete, our team will advise you on pain relief and will advise you on what to look out for in relation to infection.

Surgical extraction

OK, so a surgical extraction is a bit more complicated.

Once again, the clue is in the name and with surgical extractions, there are more tools involved and the procedure can take a little longer.

A surgical extraction is performed when you have a tooth that has broken below the gum line through decay or injury, or alternatively, it is impacted under the gum which is common with wisdom teeth. Should you need this extraction type, you will be numbed with an anaesthetic and our team will need to make precise incisions into your gums to remove the tooth.

To check that the procedure has been successful, we may also need to conduct X-rays to ensure that we have got all of the tooth fragments. And, as is the way with most surgical interventions, we may need to use stitches to close the opened area and to promote healing.

Signs of infection

With both types of extraction, it is important to be able to spot the signs of infection.

These typically involve a foul taste or smell, prolonged discomfort, swelling, feeling nauseated, being physically sick or feeling hot or cold intermittently.

If you notice any of these signs following an extraction, contact our team.