10/11/2024
Impacted wisdom teeth.
Most surgeons are proactive about removal of impacted wisdom teeth at a younger age - to avoid food impaction and difficulties maintaining adequate oral hygiene, to prevent decay and periodontal issues of adjacent teeth, as well as cystic or tumour formation.
When patients are less than 25 years old, the risks including nerve damage are significantly lower, the recovery is often better and periodontal healing around the adjacent tooth is also better.
Although I don’t document this as much, wisdom teeth actually form the bulk of surgical practice. And most colleagues I’m sure would agree that wisdom teeth surgery can be the most challenging and humbling of surgeries at times.
This is a distoangular impacted #48. Its removal involved raising an envelope flap, buccal trough of bone removal, 3/4 sectioning the crown to allow a favourable exit path (don’t lose the purchase point), elevating the roots, saline lavage, and closure.
