it's a blog eat blog world
Thursday, September 09, 2004
What are Wisdom Teeth?
Wisdom teeth are the third last permanent molars. Most people have four wisdom teeth, two in the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw. These teeth are commonly called wisdom teeth because they usually erupt between the ages of 16 to 21, known as the "age of wisdom". A wisdom tooth is impacted when it is obstructed from erupting fully into the mouth, by the tooth in front of it or the surrounding bone or gums.
Wisdom teeth are the third last permanent molars. Most people have four wisdom teeth, two in the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw. These teeth are commonly called wisdom teeth because they usually erupt between the ages of 16 to 21, known as the "age of wisdom". A wisdom tooth is impacted when it is obstructed from erupting fully into the mouth, by the tooth in front of it or the surrounding bone or gums.
X-ray depicting four impacted wisdom teeth
Problems caused by impacted wisdom teeth:
Improperly erupted wisdom teeth are breeding grounds for bacteria and may cause tooth decay, sometimes even affecting the neighbouring teeth. Infection of the overlying gums can take place as well, resulting in pain and swelling.
More serious problems such as the formation of cysts or tumours around an impacted tooth can occur, leading to destruction of the surrounding jawbone and neighbouring teeth. These conditions may require complex and extensive treatment. As problems can develop silently without your knowledge, a check-up with your dentist is thus advisable.
Impacted wisdom tooth causing decay in the second molar
X-ray image showing cyst formation around wisdom tooth
-Information from the National Dental Centre website.
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Guess why i'm telling you people this?
Yes! You're so smart!
I have them, and i need to PLUCK EM' ALL OUT!!!
Muahahahahaha! *Cues thunder and lightning*
Yeap, the truth is out. The "thing" that i thought was stuck between my teeth is actually a part of the wisdom tooth that has chipped off.
It can't be removed cos half of it is in the gums!
Oh what joy! What esctacy! What bliss!
The dentist gave me an X-tray and it looked like this la basically.
The circled bit is where food gets stuck and starts rotting and causing tooth decay.
If its not remedied early, the decay will spread of its neighbouring teeth, as i would have expected you to have read previously...
Anyway, mine are not rotting, they're just chipped...
And i can't remove the wisdom teeth, all 4 of them, now cos of prelims. So i have to live with the irritation of feeling something between my teeth.
The dentist was quite shocked that i've not been to a dentist for 3 years...
Anyway, we started talking about prelims, cos i told him i couldn't possibly take out the wisdom teeth now.
Apparently, he was from NJC and took triple science but hated maths. Lol...
He even told me thats why he was a dentist, cos he hated maths and his art was quite good. So he can give patients nice looking teeth makeovers.
He said that some dentists are horrible, the teeth they make are very square...
Crap, but it was nice talking to him. The doctors at that clinic are very nice.
posted by juni # 2:18 PM 
