Surgery

The average adult has thirty-two teeth: sixteen teeth on the top and sixteen teeth on the bottom. However, the average mouth is made to hold only 28 teeth. It can be painful when 32 teeth try to fit in a mouth that holds only 28 teeth. These four other teeth are your Third Molars, also known as “wisdom teeth.”

To determine if wisdom teeth are present and if removal is indicated, an examination of your mouth is performed. A panoramic or perapical x -ray is frequently necessary for a proper evaluation, revealing characteristics of the third molars, jawbone and adjacent nerves that are not observed by visual inspection of your mouth. The results of these procedures are discussed with you and recommendations are made. Odontectomy is the extraction or removal of a wisdom tooth by separating and opening the gums, sometimes there is the necessity to remove bone around the tooth. The procedure will be carried out under local anesthetic.

However, under certain circumstances it may be recommended not to remove third molars. Many individuals have sufficient room in their mouths to accommodate third molars but they have problem with the flap of gum overlying the wisdom tooth (operculum). Operculectomy is the surgical removal of operculum.