How Serious is an Impacted Tooth?
Impacted teeth are those teeth that failed to erupt, that is, failed to "be born", or appear in the oral cavity. They are trapped below the gum, often intraosseous, and often do not erupt due to lack of space in the dental arch, or even because they are retained by benign cysts, which mainly involve the crown of these impacted teeth.
The third molar teeth are the last teeth to erupt in the upper and lower arches, so, as there is less space for their positioning, they are generally the teeth with the highest inclusion rate. But they are not the only ones subject to the problem. Among the most frequent cases, we can also observe:
- upper canines
- lower canines
- lower premolars
- upper premolars
- upper central incisors
- upper lateral incisors
- lower second molars
Problems caused by impacted teeth
Impacted teeth can cause some complications for oral health, as it does not follow the natural eruption process. One of the most common cases in this situation is pericoronitis, an inflammation of the gum that covers the impacted tooth.
Cysts may also appear around the crowns of impacted teeth – dentigerous cysts, the most common benign pathology related to dental impaction.
Furthermore, when impacted teeth remain in contact with adjacent teeth, the appearance of periodontal pockets (localized gingival infection) and even caries in the tooth located close to the impacted tooth may occur via contamination of the gingival sulcus. This fact happens due to the difficulty of hygiene – brushing or even flossing, in the area of dental inclusion.
Causes of impacted teeth
As we said above, one of the main causes for impacted teeth is the lack of space, however, this is not the only one. Let's see some others below:
- Resistance of the fibromucosa and its density that covers it
- Permanence for a long time of deciduous (baby) teeth in the arch
- Premature loss of deciduous teeth altering the position of permanent teeth
Impacted teeth treatment
The indication for removal or not of the impacted tooth depends on the patient's needs and on the information obtained by the Dental Surgeon, Specialist in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Traumatology during the clinical examination.
Impacted teeth, which do not have room to erupt into the oral cavity, are recommended to be removed if they are in contact with adjacent teeth, and which can then promote some type of resorption or caries, in addition to a greater risk of periodontal disease in this region. difficult to clean. This usually happens with impacted third molars.
There are also some cases where orthodontic treatment – dental traction – has the function of repositioning the impacted tooth in the dental arch, such as impacted canines, for example. The decision for this treatment depends on the angle of the dental inclusion, and the possibility of acquiring adequate space for repositioning in the dental arch, with the aid of an orthodontic appliance – conducted by a Dental Surgeon, Specialist in Orthodontics. The function of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon is, through surgical access, to install a device that then allows the traction of the tooth by the Orthodontist.
If you don't remove impacted teeth