Impacted Wisdom Teeth

What is an impacted tooth?

Although most people develop and grow 32 permanent adult teeth, many times their jaws are too small to accommodate the four wisdom teeth. When inadequate space prevents the teeth from erupting they are called impacted wisdom teeth. This indicates their inability to come into the proper position for chewing and cleaning.

Types Of Impactions

During a consultation visit, Dr. Burns would evaluate whether you would benefit from wisdom tooth removal. A special x-ray of your mouth and jaws (panorex) would be taken to determine the position of your wisdom teeth, if there is room for them to come into your mouth normally, and how difficult it would be to have them removed. The different levels of impaction generally associated with a wisdom tooth are as follows:

• Soft Tissue Impaction: There is not enough room to allow the gum tissue to retract for adequate cleaning of the tooth.
• Partial Bony Impaction: There is enough space to allow the wisdom tooth to partially erupt. However, the tooth cannot function properly in the chewing process, and creates cleaning problems, among others.
• Complete Bony Impaction: There is NO space for the tooth to erupt. It remains embedded in the jaw bone, or if even partially visible, requires complex surgical techniques for removal.The impacted wisdom tooth may also be in an unusual position and difficult to remove. This situation can also arise when the shape or size of the jaw bone and other facial structures make removal of this tooth more complex.