What is an impacted wisdom tooth and what can I do about them?

When you approach 17 years of age, your last set of teeth are due to erupt. These teeth are called third molars or wisdom teeth. Often since the jaw is already formed when they erupt, there is not enough room for the wisdom teeth and they become wedged between the back of your lower jawbone and the tooth in front of them. This is called an impaction. Impactions usually are brought to your attention when they begin hurting because of infection of the surrounding gum and then need to be extracted as an emergency. Most specialists (oral surgeons) recommend that even impacted wisdom teeth that are not causing you problems should be removed when you are young because of potential problems when you are older (the bone is more resistant and the teeth are harder to extract). In cases where braces are put on, most dentists/orthodontists want wisdom teeth extracted so that they don't erupt and ruin the straightened teeth.  more