Complications After Wisdom Teeth Removal

Wisdom teeth often cause pain and problems with chewing that necessitate their removal. While most wisdom teeth extractions are pretty routine and produce little if any post-extraction complications, there are complications that can arise. What follows is a brief overview of the most common complications that can occur following wisdom teeth removal.

Infection

• After wisdom teeth are removed, the underlying gumline, including the holes left by the extracted teeth, can become infected and swollen. This is a fairly common occurrence that normally clears up on its own or with a short course of antibiotic treatment.

Dry Sockets

• Dry sockets are a common problem following wisdom teeth removal, especially removal of impacted wisdom teeth that are firmly entrenched in the jaw bone. A dry socket arises when the hole in the gum left by a tooth extraction fails to develop a sufficient soft tissue covering, which exposes the underlying nerves and bone, which in turn causes significant pain.

Bleeding

• While bleeding occurs after any tooth extraction, wisdom teeth, due to their deep roots and firm attachment to the jaw bone, frequently cause moderate levels of bleeding when extracted, especially in gums that are already irritated and/or swollen from gum disease and/or irritation from the wisdom teeth themselves.

Gum and Mouth Numbness

• Due to the complex array of nerve pathways in the mouth cavity, including in and around the gum line, it is common for numbness to occur following wisdom teeth extraction due to irritation and/or damage to nerve fibers in the area. Most cases of mouth numbness subside as the irritated and/or damaged nerves heal.

Jawbone Fracture

• Severely impacted and/or misaligned wisdom teeth can cause fractures to the jawbone if they are entrenched firmly enough and require extensive force to remove. Although rare, small fractures to the jawbone are a complication of wisdom teeth removal.