Loose Wisdom Tooth Treatment in Adults: Wisdom Teeth Removal and Extraction

Loose wisdom teeth in adults

Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars that appear in adulthood usually between ages 17 and 21. The position of some of the wisdom teeth is such that it is difficult to clean them. So, the risk for various oral diseases is high.

One of those is loose wisdom tooth. A loose tooth may cause other problems such as:

• Mouth pain and discomfort, especially when chewing
• Infection of the surrounding gums
• Damage to neighboring teeth in lack of proper hygiene
• Tooth decay due to lack of brushing

Loose wisdom tooth pain

Wobbly wisdom tooth is another term to explain that wisdom tooth is loose. A loose wisdom tooth can occur due to dental caries, abscess, cysts formation, gum diseases, etc. If a wisdom tooth feels loose, it might result in pain often referred to as wisdom tooth pain which can result in teeth fall out.

Loose wisdom tooth pain can sometimes be excruciating and might lead to swelling of gums. It can also lead to stiffness in the jaw near the impacted tooth. Several treatments are recommended for wisdom tooth pain relief such as antibiotics or over the counter pain relievers, antiseptic mouth wash, etc. In severe cases, extraction is the final treatment for loose wisdom tooth pain relief.

Listed below are some commonly recommended treatment options for relief from the pain due to loose wisdom teeth.

Treatment for a loose wisdom tooth

Before continuing the treatment, the dentist considers many factors to decide whether the loose tooth can be repaired.

• If the wisdom tooth is slightly loose, and it is an important part of chewing, then the dentist may recommend some measures to treat the wobbly wisdom tooth.
• If the wisdom tooth is very loose and can fall out anytime, the dentist may recommend the extraction of wisdom tooth.

More: Loose Adult Tooth, Loose Tooth Pain in Adults

More: Missing Tooth Replacement Options, False Teeth Options (Dentures, Dental Implants, Tooth Implants)

Extraction of wisdom tooth (wisdom teeth removal)

Wisdom tooth extraction is another name for wisdom teeth removal. It is a normal procedure done on many people to help them prevent the complications of loose wisdom tooth which can cause tooth loss.

Extraction of wisdom teeth is one solution but it's not always required. During wisdom teeth removal, your dentist or oral surgeon:

• Makes an incision in the gum to create flaps so that the tooth and bone can be exposed
• Removes any obstruction bone that may block the access to the tooth
• Divides the tooth into sections so that the tooth can be easily removed
• Removes the tooth
• Cleans the area where extraction is performed
• Stitches the wound, however, it is not always required
• Control bleeding by placing gauze over the site of the removed tooth. This leads to the formation of a blood clot.

After removal of wisdom tooth, the missing teeth can be replaced with dentures, bridges and implants. Read about missing teeth replacement options.

More: What is Tooth Loss (Edentulism): Causes, Prevention, Complications, and Treatment

Wisdom Teeth Recovery Time for Adults

Ideally, people should recover from wisdom teeth surgery within 3 to 4 days. But in some cases, it may take longer especially if your wisdom teeth were impacted or appeared at an awkward angle. Removal of wisdom teeth by surgery leaves behind a deep wound that doesn’t heal completely for months and makes you susceptible for infections. It is therefore important that you take proper care of your teeth post surgery. This can be done by avoiding certain activities such as these:

• Smoking
• Spitting
• Drinking from a Straw

Although the recovery from wisdom tooth surgery is gradual, people should see some improvement with each passing day. Wisdom teeth surgery sometimes causes swelling, pain, and bruising in patients, which is why they may require extra time to heal. The recovery process of wisdom teeth post-surgery can be divided into the following stages:

First 24 Hours

Blood clots may form within 24 hours after the surgery

After 2 to 3 Days

Swelling of the cheeks and mouth should start improving after two to three days of the surgery,

After 7 Days

Stitches can be removed by the dentist in this time frame.

After 7 to 10 Days

Any kind of stiffness and soreness in the jaws should go away.

After 2 Weeks

If there is any mild bruising on the face that should recover.

It is found that different people have different recovery times depending upon the patient’s post-surgery response. The wisdom teeth recovery time for some adults is much longer than usual due to many reasons like if the blood clots dislocate from the wound, or the wound gets infected.

How to Speed up Wisdom Teeth Recovery Time for Adults

Formation of blood clots at the place where the tooth was extracted post wisdom teeth surgery is an important part of the healing process because of the following reasons:

• They prevent too much blood loss
• They protect the wound against various infections
• They allow the growth of new tissues
• They protect the exposed bone

Post wisdom teeth surgery, it is important that we avoid dislodging these blood clots, especially within the first 24 hours. Therefore we should avoid:

• Brushing teeth nearby the extraction site
• Rinsing the mouth vigorously especially within the first 24 hours. After this, one can use an antiseptic mouth rinse
• Hot drinks
• Eating foods that require excessive chewing
• Avoiding sucking on straws, smoking, or drinking alcohol for at least 24 hours

Non-extraction approaches

If the loose wisdom teeth are in a position that can be treated easily and eventually can be managed, then wisdom teeth removal procedure can be avoided.

The following measures can be taken to fix the tooth.

Bone grafting

If the wisdom tooth has become loose due to bone deterioration, the doctor suggests bone grafting. In this method, the fragments of bone are taken from another area of patient’s body or a special bone grafting material is used to repair diseased bone. It supports the teeth and tightens it.

Splinting

In a splinting procedure, a piece of metal is used to bond two neighboring teeth. This gives the loose tooth extra support and keeps it tightened.

For wisdom tooth, intra-coronal splints are used. In this, a small channel is cut into the teeth and a rigid custom-formed metal splint is inserted into the channel. Finally, the teeth are bonded or cemented to stabilize the teeth.

Intra-coronal metal bar splint is designed in such a way that they can be used to stabilize loose back teeth (premolars and molars) where biting forces are greater.

Mouthguard

Mouth guard creates a protective barrier between the upper and lower teeth and thus prevents teeth grinding which is also the main reason for loose teeth.

More: Loose Tooth Treatment: How Do You Strengthen a Loose Tooth?

Keeping Wisdom Teeth Healthy

Some measures can be adopted to keep the wisdom teeth healthy. These measures include:

• Good oral hygiene including better brushing and flossing
• Use an electric toothbrush into your cleaning routine for effective cleaning, if possible
• More frequent or extensive dental cleanings (scaling and root planing)
• Gum surgery to improve the tooth-gum relationship which enhances adequate cleaning

Frequently Asked Question:

1. Does removing wisdom teeth change your face?

Wisdom tooth extraction can help patients to eliminate a painful tooth or to minimize inflammation and infections. When you have a tooth extracted, all roots are removed. Because the roots of your teeth are an integral part of your facial structure, changes in your face shape are possible with tooth extraction. After post-operative swelling goes down, the shape of the face usually goes to the previous contours. However, intra-oral changes from reflecting the flap in the cases with impacted wisdom teeth or complicated surgical extractions can change the sensation of nerves in the mouth cavity.

2. What can I do about a loose wisdom tooth?

First clean the tooth, root and gum surfaces of all plaques and calculus to reduce the infection and inflammation and restore tissue health. This is often accompanied by antibiotic treatments to reduce bacteria below the gum tissue. For extensive looseness, you can also splint the affected tooth or teeth with other teeth. Temporarily, your doctor can apply splinting material to the outside of both the loose and stable teeth or cut a small channel into them and apply bonding material to join them. The other stabilizing techniques include occlusal night guards to reduce the effects of teeth grinding.

3. What is the oldest age you can get wisdom teeth?

Wisdom teeth are also known as third molar teeth. They are located at the back of upper and lower jaws and are the last teeth to emerge in the oral cavity. The eruption starts at the age of 13 in some groups and typically occurs before the age of 25. If they have not erupted by age 25, oral surgeons generally consider that the tooth will not erupt spontaneously by itself. In some individuals, wisdom teeth have erupted even in 40s or 50s. This is the reason why these teeth are called wisdom teeth as they appear during the phase of life called the "age of wisdom."

5. Does removing wisdom teeth affect eyesight?

The greatest of all myths is wisdom teeth removal affect eyesight. Tooth extraction has no direct effect on your eyesight. Sometimes, eyes swell and hurt when people suffer toothache. That makes people feel like that tooth and eyes are related and eyes feel terrible when something happens to tooth. When people suffer toothache, the feeling on the nerves of tooth will be transited to other facial nerves, so it will arouse swelling which is uncomfortable for cheek or eyes. The nerves supply to the eyes and teeth are different hence there is no interconnection between them.