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Wha? Help me with my confusion..anyone else had the opposite tooth out to the one that hurt??

  • Thread starter Thread starter LoveKettle
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LoveKettle

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Wha? Help me with my confusion..anyone else had the opposite tooth out to the one that hurt??

This sounds strange, but makes sense, yet doesn't.

I havn't read anything about this on this forum anywhere, either.

My dentist, after examining my mouth, has informed me I have all 4 wisdom teeth coming through. The bottom two are impacted. I had an infection in the left lower tooth a few months back, but it cleared up, it's been 100% FINE since then.

More recently, I got a less severe but on-off-for-weeks infection in my RIGHT lower wisdom tooth.

He says they are mirror images of one another, with one crucial difference - the exact position of my lower right wisdom tooth makes it much harder to clean (its really "tight"), and the upper wisdom tooth opposite it is limiting its room, so those two factors mean it keeps getting food trapped in it and irritated, and I can't remedy it with "good oral hygiene" like I had "the other side".

So he's removing the TOP right wisdom tooth, because apparantly that's his favoured second line of defence, the first line being better cleaning techniques, the third one being to remove it, which apparantly wouldn't be a great option because its impacted could be complicated etc etc.

Now...is this "right?" It does kind of make sense, if you took out the opposite (which is a ten minute job, cheaper/less complicated) tooth..that'll give the other one more room and make it less infection prone?

He was not happy that the NHS dentist thought she could just yank out my impacted wisdom tooth in 10 minutes!

But this seems weird to me. But then again, I'm not a dentist. And I trust him. Well I think I do. He says he's used this strategy with good results before and its the simplest way to treat a grumbling lower impacted wisdom tooth.


anyone had this ???

I've therefore had two completely contradictory opinions so I'm confused:-?..but I'm going to have the top one out anyway, because its grumbling a bit like the bottom one is anyway, so I'd be pleased to be rid of it.
 
Re: Wha? Help me with my confusion..anyone else had the opposite tooth out to the one that hurt??

Hope you don't mind but I've moved this as it's really a Dentistry Question. I personally haven't heard of it before but I'm sure the dentists will have more to say when they next come along.
 
Re: Wha? Help me with my confusion..anyone else had the opposite tooth out to the one that hurt??

Yes- this does happen.
If the lower wisdom tooth is impacted, the upper one will often continue to erupt and eventually cause more trauma to the lower impacted one and the surrounding gum/cheek/tissue. By taking the top one out, it gives things a chance to settle around the lower one.
Here's an additional tip- after brushing, rub toothpaste with a clean finger on the lower wisdom teeth to help keep them strong. Do this last thing at night and avoid rinsing after applying it. If you can get stronger fluoride toothpaste from your dentist (eg Colgate Duraphat 2800 ppm) then even better!
regards
Dr Mike
 
Re: Wha? Help me with my confusion..anyone else had the opposite tooth out to the one that hurt??

Brit - no, I don't mind at all! I was in a bit of a tizzy when I posted so didn't pay enough attention to the forum I was posting in..thankyou for moving it.

DrMike - thankyou for the reassurance. And the tip RE toothpaste.

I love this forum, you're all so lovely!
 
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