I am 32 years old and have impacted wisdom teeth. One of them is infected. I know that under normal circumstances it would be important to remove any infected teeth. However someone told me that due to my age, it might be more dangerous to take out the tooth. What is the treatment if that is the case?
Pamela
Dear Pamela,
When an impacted wisdom tooth is infected, it must be extracted. It doesn’t matter how old you are. An infected wisdom tooth can become life threatening when left untreated. You want to get the treatment you need before it becomes a dental emergency and you have less control over the provider and approach.
While your age isn’t the ideal, you are not yet to the point where I would grow concerned. The best age to have them out is around 18-25. This is because there is less chance of complications during that time period. The bone is still relatively flexible and there is not a lot of cementum built up around the roots of your teeth. Once you turn 25, the risk of complications from a wisdom tooth extraction goes steadily up. However, dentists don’t usually get nervous until you hit 40.
My suggestion is that you not only get out the infected wisdom tooth but the remainder of the impacted ones at the same time. Eventually, they will give you problems and you want to remove them as soon as possible before your age will be a real issue.
the good news is that you do not have to replace wisdom teeth. If you had another infected tooth, that wasn’t a wisdom tooth, it would need to be replaced or the other teeth would shift or tip into the open space. That will throw your bite off and could lead to TMJ Disorder.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.