If this is your first time visiting an oral surgeon, you may be apprehensive about having your wisdom teeth extracted. However, your fears can be alleviated if you communicate with your oral surgeon and discuss your expectations for the procedure. Here are three things you need to make sure that you discuss with your oral surgeon before you arrive to have your wisdom teeth extracted during Dental Oral Surgery Butler PA.
Anesthesia
No matter how strong you think you think you are, no oral surgeon will agree to extract your wisdom teeth without using some form of anesthesia to help with pain management. Depending on your medical condition, you may have two different kinds of anesthesia available to you. The general anesthesia, which relaxes you so that you fall asleep and don’t feel any pain, is administered through an IV and is usually recommended for people who are very nervous about the extraction and anticipate being anxious or restless. Your other choice is to have a local application of anesthesia injected into your gums in order to numb the pain.
Impacted Teeth
Impacted wisdom teeth are simply those that did not have enough space in your mouth to properly erupt through the gum tissue and become real, functional teeth. Though impacted wisdom teeth are a common problem because they are the last teeth to come in and usually try to squeeze themselves into a full mouth, you should be aware that there are varying degrees of impaction, with the worst case scenario being a complete bony impaction where the tooth never erupts and instead stays below the jawbone.
Your oral surgeon should be able to tell from your x-rays whether your wisdom teeth are impacted and how this could affect your Dental Oral Surgery Butler PA.
After-Care
Your oral surgeon should provide adequate instructions for caring for your mouth after the extraction. It’s important to make sure that a blood clot forms in your empty gum socket, but it’s just as important that you don’t do anything to dislodge that blood clot over the next few weeks. Be sure to ask about any special precautions for oral hygiene and how long it should take for the pain and swelling to go away.
Don’t waste time worrying about Dental Oral Surgery Butler PA. Instead, talk with your oral surgeon about these issues so that you can arrive at your extraction appointment with poise and confidence.