Wisdom Tooth Positions

wisdom teethWisdom teeth under ideal circumstances should grow in straight like any other tooth. However, it is common for wisdom teeth to become impacted inside the jaw or just under the gums. If this occurs, your wisdom teeth should be removed.

Wisdom Tooth

The most commonly impacted teeth are the third molar or the wisdom teeth. The improper alignment of the wisdom teeth is caused by the impactation wherein it fails to push through the gums properly.The most common Impactions include horizontal impactation, angular impactation, vertical impactation and soft tissue impactation.

There are two types of angular impactation, mesioangular impactation which is a very common wisdom tooth impactation wherein the tooth is angled in the direction of mouth opening and distoangular impactation wherein the impacted wisdom tooth is angled towards the back of the mouth. Vertical impactation happens when the tooth have not fully erupted the gum line. The least common wisdom tooth position is the horizontal impacatation wherein the position of the tooth is a full 90 degrees angled sideways which may actually grow into the second molar’s roots. Another wisdom tooth position is caused by the soft tissue impactation wherein the tooth lies underneath the gum line.

When impacted wisdom teeth are not removed, complications may occur including bacterial infection due to improper cleaning of the teeth, which may result to swelling, pain and jaw stiffness. Tooth and gum decay can also by caused by wisdom tooth impactation. The misalignment of the teeth causes poor and improper cleaning of the teeth thus causes infections that may lead to decay. Cyst can also grow around the impacted teeth. Due to these circumstances, it is advised to remove the wisdom teeth to prevent these complications.

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