When most people think about wisdom tooth pain, they think about impacted wisdom teeth, but these teeth can also get cavities.
Most people have experienced a cavity or some other type of tooth pain in their lives, so the odds are good that you know how uncomfortable it can be. Some of the worst tooth pain can be caused by wisdom teeth or our third molars. When most people think about wisdom tooth pain, they think about impacted wisdom teeth, but these teeth can also get cavities. In fact, they are just as and sometimes more so prone to cavities than other teeth.
What Are Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars that we get as we age. When our adult teeth replace our “baby teeth”, we have two molars on each side, top, and bottom. As we age, eventually this third set of molars grows in as well, usually when we are in our late teens to early adult years. However, because the teeth that are already there occupy the whole mouth, many people develop issues of crowding or impaction with their wisdom teeth. This means that the teeth grow into the gums or the bones, instead of erupting through the gums. The solution to this is to have the wisdom teeth surgically removed, and a large percentage of the adult population does so.
Why Wisdom Teeth Get Cavities
Clearly, if you have your wisdom teeth surgically removed, you are not going to ever have to worry about them developing cavities. However, some people actually have their wisdom teeth grow in just fine, have their wisdom teeth impacted but not in a way that demands immediate extraction, or have them never fully grow in at all. In these cases, where the teeth are exposed at least somewhat, there is the potential for cavities. Even an impacted tooth, that is stuck in the gums, can develop a cavity if there is food that gets stuck up there with it. Additionally, wisdom teeth are harder to brush and floss than other teeth, since they are so far in the back of the mouth. They are also out of sight and out of mind, as opposed to the other pearly whites in your smile.
Treating Cavities In Wisdom Teeth
Most cavities are treated by filling them or by a root canal. For your wisdom teeth, however, extraction is usually the recommendation. These teeth often are too far back in the mouth to really be worth saving, and if the cavity is in an impacted tooth it is one that was going to need to come out anyway. If your wisdom teeth grew in fully, without becoming impacted, it is possible that your dentist might do a filling instead of an extraction, especially if that is your preferred solution.
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