The History of Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth can be a pain in the neck or more specifically the mouth. These teeth appear later in life, emerging in the upper and lower back areas of the mouth in the 17-25 age years. After wisdom teeth grow in completely, your dentist may recommend a tooth extraction to prevent infection. At Kidz Connextion located in Phoenix, AZ, your dentist provides safe and effective wisdom tooth extractions. But first, the question remains, why do we have wisdom teeth anyway?

History of Wisdom Teeth

Since they are the last to appear in the human mouth, wisdom teeth garnered the title “wisdom” presumably because they make you wiser. Wisdom teeth were once very useful in human history, aiding our ancestors to chew and tear tough roots, meats, nuts, and plants. But because most of the human diet today is soft and cooked foods, the need for wisdom teeth is virtually none, with anthropologists suggesting their DNA may soon completely disappear from genetics.

Wisdom Teeth Today: Extractions and Removal

Since wisdom teeth aren’t needed anymore today, they are more likely to do harm than good to your mouth. When a wisdom tooth can’t break through the gums or is stuck under the gums, this means it’s impacted. A wisdom tooth that grows at the wrong angle due to lack of room in the mouth also is impacted. Partially impacted wisdom teeth, which only slightly emerge from the gums are also a cause for concern. 

Your Phoenix, AZ dentist recommends an extraction when your wisdom tooth is impacted and if you experience the following symptoms:

-Pain

-Infection

-Ulcers near the tooth

-Tooth decay

-Damage to nearby teeth

-Gum disease

-Trouble opening jaw

-Bleeding gums

-Sudden bad breath

Sometimes wisdom teeth, even if not impacted, don’t need to be removed because they cause no oral health issues. Here are examples of when you don’t need an extraction:

-Your wisdom teeth are healthy and fully grown in

-Your wisdom teeth are positioned correctly

-Your wisdom teeth are easily reached for proper dental hygiene

Kidz Connextion has three convenient locations in Phoenix, Arizona. To schedule an appointment at 2533 N 75th St, text 623-232-0749. For our office at 2046 N 24th St, text 480-666-5984. For our office at 524 E Baseline Rd, text 480-405-4714. Or, visit Kidz Connextion on our website.

Panoramic X-Rays

Kidz Connexion in Phoenix maintains high standards for care, and part of that means having up-to-date equipment. Our practice utilizes panoramic x-ray machines, and you may have seen them on previous visits. These devices allow us to provide reliable orthodontic assessments and to intervene early if there’s an issue with a child’s facial growth, allowing them to be treated more effectively.

 

Panoramic x-rays provide a complete picture of a patient’s skull by observing them from all angles. This is an improvement over 2-d pictures, in which x-rays may be blocked by prosthetics such as fillings. In adult patients, panoramic x-rays are usually used to monitor the integration of implants, observe the progression of gum disease, and check for oral cancer. But in pediatric patients, 3-d x-rays allow us to observe the placement of impacted teeth and to better determine how to guide their eruption or plan their extraction. They also allow us to plan for orthognathic treatment such as palate expansion.

 

Panoramic x-rays are easy and safe for the patient. After removing metal jewelry, they simply have to bite their front teeth down on a plastic tab to help position their jaws while the scanners rotate around their head. The whole process only takes about a minute, and the scanners can be adjusted for people of different heights or who are in wheelchairs. There’s a limited time in a person’s life before their jaw bones solidify too much for unerupted canines and incisors to be guided into place, but with more accurate x-rays, we can plan for orthodontic treatments that will spare a pediatric patient from needing oral surgery as an adult.

 

Kidz Connextion has three convenient locations in Phoenix, Arizona. To schedule an appointment at 2533 N 75th St, text 623-232-0749. For our office at 2046 N 24th St, text 480-666-5984. For our office at 524 E Baseline Rd, text 480-405-4714. Or, visit Kidz Connextion on our website.

Do You Have Impacted Wisdom Teeth?

For some, growing wisdom teeth is a ball in the park. For others, it can be an uncomfortable experience. While it’s normal to feel some pain and soreness as a wisdom tooth comes in, continuous pain may mean you have an impacted tooth and require an extraction. At Kidz Connextion located in Phoenix, AZ, we provide safe and effective wisdom tooth extractions. But first, let’s take a look at what it means to have an impacted wisdom tooth. 

What Is an Impacted Wisdom Tooth?

Wisdom teeth typically grow in the 17-25 age years, emerging in the upper and lower back areas of the mouth. If a wisdom tooth can’t break through the gums or is stuck under the gums, this means your tooth is impacted. A wisdom tooth that grows at the wrong angle due to lack of room in the mouth also is impacted. Some wisdom teeth, known as partially impacted teeth, only slightly emerge in the gums. When food is trapped under the gum flap or operculum of a partially inflamed tooth, you risk a potentially dangerous health condition called pericoronitis.

Symptoms

Some impacted teeth may never need removal because they don’t have any dental problems. Others lead to serious infections like pericoronitis if not treated right away. If you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms, contact our office in Phoenix, AZ immediately for an appointment:

Bleeding gums

Bad breath

Severe pain

Trouble opening the jaw

Swelling

Pus discharge

 
Treatment

At Kidz Connextion, we value making our patients feel safe and comfortable during all procedures. This includes extractions for impacted wisdom teeth. Your dentist will determine your full range of options including extraction site preservation and operculum cleaning before extraction takes place. 

Kidz Connextion has three convenient locations in Phoenix, Arizona. To schedule an appointment at 2533 N 75th St, text 623-232-0749. For our office at 2046 N 24th St, text 480-666-5984. For our office at 524 E Baseline Rd, text 480-405-4714. Or, visit Kidz Connextion on our website.

Do You Need Your Wisdom Teeth Removed?

Wisdom teeth are the third and final molars to develop in the mouth between the ages of 17-22. For a very lucky few, these teeth come in with no problems: fully through the gums and properly aligned. Oftentimes though, wisdom teeth come in misaligned or impacted. This is where complications develop and the need for their removal is vital. The experienced dentists at Kidz Connextion Dental & Braces in Pheonix, AZ, provide wisdom teeth removal for patients.

Your trusted dentist recommends that you not wait too long to get your wisdom teeth removed since infection can easily set in. The younger you are, the easier the procedure will be since the wisdom teeth roots aren’t fully developed by that time. This will also help with quicker recovery time.

Before making any decisions to extract wisdom teeth, your dentist will first examine your mouth and take an X-ray. Under the care of the expert team at Kidz Connextion Dental & Braces, you and your family will rest easy knowing that you are in safe hands throughout your visit. We understand that wisdom teeth extraction may sound scary, but it’s best to have them removed to avoid headaches, constant pain in the back of the mouth, and damage to the surrounding teeth.

Do you think it’s time to have your wisdom teeth removed? We are happy to address any questions or concerns that come up. Kidz Connextion Dental & Braces has three separate offices in the Phoenix, AZ, area for your convenience. For more information about our services or to schedule an appointment, please visit kidzconnextion.com. You can also call 623-232-0749 for our N. 75th St. office, 480-666-5984 for the N. 24th St. office, and 480-405-4714 for the E. Baseline Rd. office.

Why Do We Have Wisdom Teeth?

Wisdom teeth grow in the very back of the mouth and usually erupt between the ages of 17 and 22. Essentially, our mouths are able to hold 28 teeth, but including wisdom teeth, we each have about 32. However, with modern advancements in oral hygiene and softer diets, we don’t need these wisdom teeth like our ancestors once did. Wisdom teeth can be problematic depending on the individual, to discuss yours or your child’s, schedule a consultation with our doctors at Kidz Connextion.

So why do we have wisdom teeth? Anthropologists believe wisdom teeth or the third set of molars, were the evolutionary answer to our ancestor’s early diet of coarse, rough food – like leaves, roots, nuts, and meats – which required more chewing power and resulted in excessive wear of the teeth. The modern diet with its softer foods, along with marvels of modern technologies such as forks, spoons, and knives, has made the need for wisdom teeth nonexistent; however, they don’t always need to be removed.

If you have questions or concerns about tooth extractions, please give us a call. To learn more about our pediatric services here at the office visit www.kidzconnextion.com for more information. To schedule an appointment in Phoenix AZ, call 623-223-1001.

Dry Sockets

When we extract teeth at Kidz Connextion, it is very important to us that our patients and their parents understand what to do at home following the operation. Though it is rare, one of the biggest risks following an extraction is a dry socket, so we want families to be able to recognize it as well as prevent it.

It is crucial after a tooth is extracted for a blood clot to be allowed to form over the socket and remain in place. Certain behaviors, such as smoking and taking birth control, are known to prevent blood from clotting properly. We especially emphasize to kids that they should avoid drinking through straws. The suction can pull clots loose, exposing the socket and leaving it vulnerable to drying out and becoming infected. Unfortunately, even if a patient follows all the instructions, there is a chance of a dry socket developing. This is particularly true if the extraction was complicated enough to require sutures.

Dry sockets are painful. If a person is in severe pain a few days after the operation or the bleeding hasn’t stopped, they need an emergency appointment. The socket will be cleaned with a vacuum and a dentist will dress the surgical wound in medicated paste or gauze. The patient may also need painkillers and antibiotics and to come back every few days to have the dressings replaced, but that is usually all the harm a dry socket does.

Kidz Connextion Dental Care maintains offices around Phoenix. To find out more, visit our website at KidzConnextion.com.