Usually making their first appearance in young adults from the ages of 15-22, wisdom teeth come in behind the back molars. It is important to remove wisdom teeth at an early stage of growth as they will eventually push their way in, possibly causing complications such as crowding and pain in other teeth. A lot of times patient’s mouths are too small to handle the 4 additional molars growing in, making the removal (or extraction) necessary.
Some symptoms that your teenager may experience if their wisdom teeth are coming in are:
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- Pain in the mouth
- Infection in the mouth
- Facial swelling (especially in the cheek area)
- Swelling of the gumline (especially in the back area of the mouth)
Removing the wisdom teeth as soon as possible is highly recommended. An early wisdom tooth extraction will not only minimize the pain of the procedure but will also make the chances of having an impacted tooth (which can destroy the second molar) almost slim to none.
