Hi Bryanna, How are you?

I have a wisdom tooth at the far back & upper left. It was there for 1-2 years without pain. It's very tiny and I think it stopped growing out of my gum.

Possible to get a cavity on the Wisdom tooth?
Should I leave it or extract it?
It's kind of hard to clean the wisdom tooth every night.

Thanks.

Hi fistula_help,

Nice to "see" you again

How did everything heal from the last tooth extraction?

Sometimes wisdom teeth can be dwarf teeth meaning there is very little root structure which is basically sitting in soft tissue more so than jaw bone. Other times only a piece of the crown portion has broken through the gum tissue and the tooth is really full size. Did your dentist say it was a tiny wisdom tooth?

Yes, wisdom teeth can and often do get cavities because they can be way back there and difficult to clean.

If you are not using this tooth to chew with and plaque is accumulating on it because you cannot clean it, then consider having it extracted. If it is a dwarf tooth, then it probably would have small root structure which is not a big deal to remove.

What does your dentist advise you to do?

Bryanna

The last tooth extraction was great and the area healed within 3 weeks. No more fistula problem after the extraction.

The dentist only touched the wisdom teeth and suggest not to worry about it. He told me to clean around the wisdom teeth area and hope it doesn't get infected. My next appointment is near the end of the year and I'll ask him about it again.

Thanks.

Fistula_help,

Okay great! It would be good to have a periapical xray taken of that tooth at your next appointment and then once a year unless something occured sooner.

Have you tried using a electric toothbrush? Some of them have very small brush heads and all you have to do it hold the rotating brush on that tooth and then at a 90 degree angle around it's circumference and it will clean better than a manual tooth brush.

Take care,
Bryanna

Yes, I will need to ask my dentist to take some xray pictures this year.

My gums bleed whenever I use the electric toothbrush (haven't used it anymore). Thanks.

fistula_help,

Your gums should not bleed when you brush manually or with an electric toothbrush. Bleeding indicates that there is bacteria built up along the gum line and brushing is the way to remove it. Once the you remove the bacteria the bleeding will stop unless it builds up again.

When using an electric tooth brush, do not press it hard against the gums. Just lean it against the gum line at a 90 degree angle and let the bristles do the work. Slowly move the brush along each tooth, front and back. These brushes are fabulous at removing plaque and keeping the gum tissue healthy. Maybe you could try it again?

Bryanna

Hi fistula_help,

Glad to hear that your extraction went well and the fistula went away. You and I chatted with Bryanna a couple years ago and, at that time, you mentioned you were referred to the Metropolitan Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Centre in Toronto (where we both live) for your extraction.

If you happen to read this message in the next little while, could you let me know which surgeon there extracted your tooth and how satisfied you were with him overall (i.e. professionalism, bedside manner, thoroughness of debridement, etc.) I believe I have to extract my problem canine tooth and I know that it is very important to choose the right doctor for this. So it would be great to hear any details you can share about your experience at that location.

Bryanna, nice to see you still helping folks on the boards.

Hi Carleton,

Nice to see you too

I would suggest that you send fistula_help a private message just in case they don't come on here for awhile. You could also PM Chemar and ask her to notify fistula_help via email that you have a question.

Please let us know how things are going!
Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna

Just sent fistula_help the PM. I'm not sure if a notification gets emailed to them but I'll wait a couple of days and if I don't hear from them - then I will PM Chemar.

As for me, I'm just getting in the right mental state to extract the tooth which I believe is the right decision. I visited my general dentist yesterday and she urged me to do an apico through her endo contact. I told her how useless I think apicos are, saying "so what, I can buy myself four more years with an infected tooth for a thousand bucks?" To which she responded "well, that's $250 a year to keep the tooth." I have to admit, at least she was honest and that's probably the only redeeming argument to be made for an apico which seems to be nothing but a delay of extraction. But then of course, there's the fact you retain an active infection in your mouth.

When she sensed I wasn't going to budge on the apico, she offered to do the extraction but, as I questioned her, she didn't seem too keen about it. I actually had to ask her if she'd debride, and didn't get the sense I'd get a thorough debridement from her. I know a qualified OS is best, just want to get someone who I can trust to do a good job for me.

I can't swing for an implant right now, so I'll probably go a few months without the tooth or maybe wearing a flipper. Hope that won't be too weird.

One of the challenges of navigating dental issues like this is you have dentists and specialists pushing you one way (usually an expensive way) and then you have your desired way of doing things. Sometimes it feels like swimming upstream if you're not on the same page as them.

Hi
So sorry, but we do not email members on behalf of other members, especially when they don't have their settings to accept emails from other members.
Hopefully they will check in again and get your PM and see the posting here.