About 91% of adults over the age of 20 have had cavities at one point in their life. Dental cavities are one of the most prevalent dental health issues and can develop on any tooth — including your wisdom tooth.
Wisdom Tooth Cavities
Wisdom teeth are the third and final set of molars in an adult’s mouth that can emerge between the age of 17 and 25. Some people may not have any wisdom teeth at all while others may have one, two or three wisdom teeth instead of the while set.
Many adults complain of complications when a wisdom tooth is erupting in their mouth, like pain and soreness. Even if the tooth emerges without incident, it is more vulnerable to cavities since it is situated in the furthest reaches of your mouth and cannot be easily accessed with a toothbrush and floss.
As a result, food debris and plaque may become trapped there and the tooth may develop cavities, which may necessitate tooth extraction.
How to Treat Wisdom Teeth Cavity?
Normally, when you get a cavity in one of your permanent teeth, our priority is to restore it by filling it. If the cavity is severe, we may recommend a root canal procedure to save it. However, this is often not the case with wisdom teeth.
If a wisdom teeth has not properly erupted or if it has developed cavities, Dr. Sebastien Murphy and Dr. Murphy will recommend its removal.
During the extraction procedure, we will administer local anesthesia to numb the area. We will then make a small incision to expose the impacted tooth and remove the surrounding bony structure to better access the tooth.
We may break the wisdom tooth into two or more smaller pieces so that it can be removed easily. Once the tooth has been extracted, we may pack the wound so that it can heal quickly.
In some cases, though, if the tooth has properly erupted in your mouth, it may be possible to restore it. That is why we recommend never skipping your routine dental checkups, so that we can diagnose the health of all your teeth.
If you wisdom tooth is causing you pain and discomfort, schedule an appointment by calling us at 904 717-0335 and we will suggest treatment options for it.
