Wisdom Teeth FAQs
Wisdom teeth removal is a dental procedure to extract one or more of your third molars, located at the back of your mouth.
Most people have their wisdom teeth removed sometime during their high school or college years. But they can continue developing until you’re nearly 30 years old. We typically recommend removing your wisdom teeth as soon as side effects like infection, impaction, or pain develop before they can cause damage to your neighboring healthy teeth.
At San Juan Family Dentistry, we will take periodic dental X-rays to evaluate your wisdom tooth development. This imaging allows us to identify the best time for wisdom tooth removal, depending on your circumstances.
We will assess your case thoroughly to determine the best course of action. Sometimes we only need to remove one or two, and sometimes three or four.
Impacted wisdom teeth are those that are not able to erupt through the gums fully. It is a very common condition and the number one reason for wisdom teeth extraction.
We take special steps to make sure our patients are comfortable during their wisdom tooth removal appointment. We use numbing and sedation medications to help patients feel as little discomfort as possible. In addition, we will provide you with appropriate post-procedure medications and instructions for pain relief.
We recommend you avoid eating or drinking anything for a few hours before the procedure, and arranging for someone to drive you home afterward.
During the procedure, we’ll numb the area with local anesthesia and carefully remove the tooth. You may feel some pressure, but you shouldn’t feel any pain.
