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The Importance of Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Removed

Find out the reasons why your Fredericksburg dentist may recommend extracting your wisdom teeth.

If you are a teenager or in your early twenties then you’ve probably heard your Fredericksburg dentist Dr. Kent Archibald talk about your wisdom teeth. These teeth are the third and final set of molars to come in, and they usually appear around your teen years. The majority of patients will need to have these molars removed. Find out why we may recommend having your wisdom teeth extracted and how it could promote better oral health.

Reasons to Remove Your Wisdom Teeth

Many patients experience impacted wisdom teeth, which means that they don’t fully erupt from the gums. When this happens your Fredericksburg dentist Dr. Archibald will almost always recommend having your wisdom teeth removed to prevent these issues from happening:

Infection or decay

Since the wisdom tooth has only partially emerged, it leaves an opening in the gums where food and bacteria can get trapped. Since it’s harder to properly clean this area in the back of your mouth chances are good that plaque will build up on and around your wisdom teeth. This can lead to oral infections, gum disease or cavities.

Prevent overcrowding

Your jaw can only hold so many teeth before everything gets out of alignment and teeth begin to shift and overcrowd each other. If you are already dealing with overcrowding or don’t have space in your mouth to accommodate your wisdom teeth, then we will recommend having your wisdom teeth removed. Whether you’ve come by your straight smile naturally or you’ve worn braces in the past the last thing you want to do is deal with a crooked smile because of your wisdom teeth.

Wisdom teeth can also cause cysts, tumors or damage to healthy neighboring teeth. To prevent these complications from happening to you we will strongly advise you to have a wisdom tooth extraction.

Is it time to talk to your Fredericksburg cosmetic dentist about whether or not you need to have your wisdom teeth removed? If so, give Fredericksburg Dental Center a call today.