How much do you know about wisdom teeth?

  Human third molars generally erupt at the age of maturity and wisdom (18-22 years old), commonly known as “wisdom teeth”. As food becomes finer and finer, the chewing function of the teeth becomes less and less, and the jawbone development becomes smaller and smaller, the wisdom teeth, which are located at the last end of the tooth bed, lack sufficient space to erupt normally, which is commonly called “obstruction” in medicine.  Obstruction often leads to inflammation of soft tissues such as gums around the wisdom teeth, resulting in local swelling, pain and difficulty in opening mouth; long-term chronic inflammation may cause local bone resorption in the dental bed, resulting in loosening of adjacent teeth; in addition, obstructed wisdom teeth may also cause decay of adjacent teeth, tooth crowding, temporomandibular joint disease, etc. Therefore, wisdom teeth that have caused or may cause the above problems in the future should be extracted as soon as possible.  Since most of the obstructed wisdom teeth are located in the bone or underneath the adjacent teeth, it is more difficult to remove, takes longer to remove, and causes relatively heavy damage, so there are usually reactions such as pain, swelling, and difficulty in opening the mouth after the surgery. Depending on the specific situation of each patient, oral or intravenous antimicrobial agents and other appropriate measures should be given after surgery.