🦷 How Is an Impacted Tooth Treated?

What is an Impacted Tooth?

Picture a tooth in your mouth that is interested in coming out, but it is not possible. The tooth is buried below the gum or bone, and it lacks enough space to erupt as usual. That is what is meant by an impacted tooth. Normally, wisdom teeth are the most affected in the back part, but even other teeth, like canines and premolars, can also be impacted, and it is mostly during teenage years.

In an ideal world, the teeth should grow straight, have proper spacing, and come out at the right time. This is hardly ever the case, though. For the most part, either the oral cavity of a person is insufficient in size, or their teeth are too crowded. So when a new tooth cannot come out, it remains hidden–or even worse, it grows in another direction.

When we talk about visibility, impacted teeth may not seem to threat at all. However, hidden in the gums, they can cause inflammation, carry out the destruction of the neighboring teeth, infect, and even lose bone without showing any symptoms. That’s why there is a need for timely diagnosis.

In Lema Dental Clinic, we get our expert team to use super-precise digital imaging to find the position of the impacted teeth and determine if they can cause any disruption of your smile, not only at present but in the long run as well.

What are the Symptoms of an Impacted Tooth?

Not every impaction is a painful experience. A lot of them are asleep and calm for years in oral tissue without being active. Still, mostly when they come up against roots, nerves, or other teeth, they can begin to manifest a cluster of symptoms. A person’s or your kid’s any of the following symptoms might indicate an impacted tooth:

• Red, swollen, or bleeding gums
• Jaw pain or stiffness near the impacted area
• Bad breath or unpleasant taste in the mouth
• Pain when chewing or biting down
• Frequent headaches or earaches
• A visible gap where a tooth hasn’t erupted

Every so often, the situation gets worse, and a follicular cyst can develop, leading to long-lasting problems like jawbone erosion or unexpected teeth closing together. 

Besides, there is something that a lot of people do not even think of: a nice smile is no guarantee that no teeth are impacted. This is why dental visits at regular intervals, especially for kids and teenagers, are very important. We cannot solve what we do not know.

What’s behind the Impacted Tooth Situation?

There are a variety of factors that can result in impacted teeth. The causes can be genetic, while others might be due to malocclusion or tooth crowding. The following situations may be occurring:

• Improper jawbone space
• The kids lost their milk teeth later than usual
• The teeth are coming out the wrong way
• Additional teeth (supernumerary teeth) have blocked the path
• Cysts or tumors have taken the space of the teeth’s eruption track

It’s not unusual that the underlying cause would be the permanent teeth that are too enthusiastic and neglect the fact that the baby teeth are still there. On the other hand, it’s often just the genetics of the jaw structure that may not support a full set of teeth.

Lema Dental Clinic goes the full length to be proactive when we attend to our patients. Our team leverages the most advanced 3D technologies to conduct a comprehensive analysis of your jaw, bite, and bone structure. This way, we not only treat but also optimize the condition.

How is an Impacted Tooth Treated?

Let’s say that you are at the dentist, and after an examination, you hear, “Uh-oh, you have an impacted tooth.” What does “impacted tooth” actually mean? Let’s start with not getting scared of that term. The methods of treatment depend on the type of impaction, the patients’ ages, and the stage of the teeth development process.

The following are the most commonly used methods of treatment:

1. Monitoring with Imaging

If the tooth doesn’t cause any inconveniences to the patient, doesn’t hurt, and doesn’t engage in any other teeth the doctors may just keep it there and periodically use some type of imaging to check. Still, it is possible that this is just an intermediate stage. The majority of hindered teeth eventually need to be treated.

2. Surgical Extraction

When the tooth is deeply impacted or growing in the wrong position, i.e., sideways, its complete removal may be required through a surgical procedure. Wisdom teeth are often the subject of this course. In most cases, the intervention does not require a lot of time and can be performed under local or general anesthesia. Additionally, the recovery period rarely exceeds several days.

3. Orthodontic Guidance

In adolescents, where canine impaction is the most common and can be treated immediately and most successfully, the most feasible method of moving them to the right location is orthodontic. First, the surgeon goes ahead with the exposure of the tooth, and then, the right man to do the job, the orthodontist, twists it gently by using a new repositioning system over a number of months that is conducive to this purpose.

4. Cosmetic or Restorative Care

In other cases, if your impacted tooth seems to be jeopardizing the adjacent teeth or it has created a gaping hole in your smile, you can benefit from cosmetic dentistry. Veneers, crowns, or even dental implants might be applied to restore both the normal appearance of teeth and good functioning.

Lema Dental Clinic in Istanbul not only offers you oral surgery, orthodontics, and cosmetic dentistry in one place but also enables you to combine beauty with health in every treatment of the teeth. This comes up as an added advantage when treating those with impacted teeth.

When Impacted Teeth Affect Smile Aesthetics?

The emotional aspect of the matter is what we are meant to discuss now. It is a known fact that an impacted tooth can cause several changes to be noticed on the outside, for example, misalignment, swelling, or discoloration, that are directly related to your level of confidence.

All of these things are even more true for teenagers and young adults who are just in the process of finding their voices and making good use of those voices to express themselves. An ugly, crooked smile or a discolored tooth is one of the results of impaction that can leave one in a state of uneasiness and poor social performance, as well as be a cause of bullying in school settings.

This is the reason; removal of the tooth is not the only treatment. We, at Lema Dental Clinic, believe that your sense of confidence is still one of the important factors in your recovery process and that the process should include the restoration of your smile. In this context, we may be talking about:

• Use of dental veneers to get rid of the destroyed tooth look
• Getting a zirconia crown to replace a tooth that is about to break
• Using a dental implant to replace the missing tooth
• Creating a completely new Hollywood Smile that will give you symmetry and vitality

Our materials and digital smile design make sure your result looks better than you expected during the whole process.

Don’t Let Nature Decide Your Smile

The reality is athat  smile being “natural” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s constitutive of a good smile that is healthy, functional, and attractive too. Defective teeth are one of the best-suited instances for this. They are embedded underground, causeô pain, change your alignment, and may even remain unnoticed until their permanent damage is huge. 

That is why, before any symptoms occur, you should be going for a check-up and a consultation at a dentist’s office near you that is equipped with the latest equipment and takes care of you, and why modern dentistry is relevant.

Here at Lema Dental Clinic in Istanbul, we look at the situation of impacted teeth not as a negative occurrence but rather as a chance. A chance to cure, to reshape the tooth, and to end up with a smile that is not only better looking, but also stronger and more confident. From the simplest to the most sophisticated procedures, such as extraction, veneering, and the Hollywood Smile makeover, our professional team is prepared to support you every step of the way, and of course, who also understands the dentistry field from an artistic and scientific point of view.

FAQ: Impacted Tooth Treatment