Teeth that, for various reasons, cannot take their place in normal occlusion when their age and time of eruption arrive, and remain partially or completely within soft tissue or bone, are defined as impacted teeth, or, in more scientific terms, "unerupted teeth." The most common impacted teeth are wisdom teeth. Besides wisdom teeth, canine teeth, premolars, and even incisors can also remain as impacted teeth.
The last teeth to emerge in the mouth, wisdom teeth, can cause serious problems. Teeth that start to erupt between the ages of 17–25 remain impacted if there is not enough space in the jaw, and can lead to severe pain. If wisdom teeth erupt in the correct position and do not damage the surrounding tissues, there is no harm in them remaining in place.
However, considering the problems that an abnormally positioned tooth fused with the jawbone may cause in the future, a decision to extract the tooth can be made after an X-ray. A wisdom tooth is dangerous in the following situations:
Gum infection: When a wisdom tooth does not fully erupt, food debris and bacteria get under the gum around the wisdom tooth, causing infection. This can result in bad breath, pain, swelling in the face, and reduced mouth opening. The infection can spread to the cheek and neck area through the lymph nodes.
Pressure pain: Pain may occur due to the pressure of the wisdom tooth on neighboring teeth. In some cases, this pressure causes wear on the teeth.
Orthodontics: Many young patients undergo orthodontic treatment to correct crowding in their teeth. Wisdom teeth, due to lack of space, especially cause an increase in tooth crowding in the anterior region.
Prosthesis: In patients using complete dentures, impacted wisdom teeth can cause problems such as incompatibility, sores, and inability to use the denture.
Cyst formation: A cyst may form in the soft tissue surrounding an impacted or partially impacted wisdom tooth. Removing this cyst and tooth is of great importance in preventing future bone and adjacent tooth damage. Rarely, a tumor may develop inside the cyst, or spontaneous fractures may occur in the jaw due to excessive growth of the cyst.
