ORA Oral Surgery & Implant Studio
"Dr. Steven Koos is extraordinary! He is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who in my opinion is the best oral surgeon in Chicago. I was there to have a wisdom teeth extraction and three molar extraction. With every extraction he used anesthesia which kept me at easy and comfortable. Ora is always and beautiful inside it shocked me completely when I found out it was complete green. I thank Dr. Koos for everything."
"I had an old bridge which causing me a great deal of pain in addition to being difficult to keep clean. After Dr. Koos' evaluation he recommended I have the bridge removed and replaced with dental implants. The entire procedure took about 30 minutes and was completely pain free. The team at ORA was so friendly and helpful with any of my concerns. I never thought going to the dentist would be so comforting to the point I felt as if I were family! I would recommend to anyone that they visit Dr. Koos and his wonderful team!"
"I went from having old, ugly bridges and not knowing anything about implants to having a great new smile with teeth that function better than ever before with the implants Dr. Koos placed. The team was completely informative and friendly!"
| Mon: | 8am - 6pm |
| Tues: | 9am - 5pm |
| Wed: | 9am - 7pm |
| Thurs: | 8am - 4pm |
| Fri: | 8am - 3pm |
| Sat: | 8am - 3pm |
| Sun: | Closed |
Do I need to take out impacted wisdom teeth?
Anonymous Patient
Having the third molars—“wisdom teeth”—removed is so common and necessary that it has almost become one of the rites of passage along the road to adulthood. For many patients, the decision to visit an oral surgeon to have the wisdom teeth removed is prompted when those teeth cause pain or become infected.
The main issue with the wisdom teeth is that most people don’t have enough room in their dental arch or jaws for those teeth to erupt properly. As a result, they often become impacted, or stuck in the bone or gum tissue.
The wisdom teeth can cause a host of problems if they are not removed in a timely fashion. Impacted wisdom teeth can develop cysts or even tumors. If the wisdom teeth eventually erupt partially, they’ll serve as a haven for bacteria because it’s nearly impossible to reach the pocketing around third molars to keep them sufficiently clean through brushing and flossing. As those bacteria collect, they’ll begin to attack the gums, leading to periodontal disease. That periodontal disease may progress to the point where the underlying jawbone also begins to deteriorate from the inflammation. That bacteria will also increase the likelihood of decay on the neighboring good molars and can lead to those teeth needing to be extracted as well.
Aesthetic flaws can arise from the wisdom teeth, as well. If the wisdom teeth continue to push their way through the jawbone, they may crowd the other teeth and throw the smile out of alignment.
However, not all patients experience overt problems with the wisdom teeth. People who have qualms about oral surgery may question the need to extract teeth when they aren’t causing any symptoms. But hypertension (high blood pressure) doesn’t usually cause symptoms either, until end organ damage occurs. Should high blood pressure not be treated either until it is symptomatic? So that line of thinking isn’t the best line of thinking. A dentist not diagnosing, discussing and referring a patient to an oral surgeon in Chicago for treatment of impacted, partially impacted, or mal-erupted wisdom teeth is doing their patients a real disservice. Imagine not having gum disease diagnosed or treated, or a cavity not diagnosed or treated because “they don’t hurt right now”.
For most patients, wisdom tooth extraction is recommended and necessary. It’s impossible to predict when problems will occur, and it’s best to have the third molars removed before they can do any damage. Furthermore, the procedure is routine and remarkably safe, if skilled oral and maxillofacial surgeons perform the surgery.
It is the exception, when the wisdom teeth are expected to emerge fully and in the proper alignment, and it is only in these instances where patients may not need to have them removed.
Oral surgeons use sophisticated, state-of-the-art, 3D digital CT radiographs to help determine if you have enough room in your jaw for the wisdom teeth to erupt. Having this knowledge can help you make a better-informed decision.
Ideally, patients should have their wisdom teeth removed before age 23. But this can vary from person to person based on wisdom tooth maturity. After that point, the roots of the wisdom teeth are more solidified and longer, which makes the extraction procedure more difficult. Older patients also take longer to heal from the surgery.
Nonetheless, patients who put off the procedure can still have the third molars safely extracted at a later age.
