Not removing your impacted wisdom teeth may cause you severe discomfort or even cause problems to your other teeth. This can cause an array of problems listed as follows:
As your wisdom teeth are so far back in your mouth, they are often difficult to keep clean, accumulating plaque and food particles. If this occurs for a prolonged period, both your wisdom tooth and surrounding teeth can start decaying.
This is especially unfortunate as it can ultimately result in you having to lose both these teeth. Therefore it is advisable to remove your wisdom teeth sooner rather than later to prevent this from happening.
The gums surrounding your wisdom teeth may also become inflamed due to the same reason of prolonged plaque and food particle accumulation. This is especially the case in improperly-erupted wisdom teeth.
As a result, pain, bad breath, and swelling can follow. In severe cases, this can be accompanied by gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis. These are serious issues that may require immediate medical attention.
If your wisdom teeth erupt in a misaligned manner, they can push the rest of your other teeth in front into disarray. This causes them to be malpositioned, which can negatively impact your appearance, bite, speech and oral hygiene.
For patients who have invested in orthodontics treatment, the work done can be reversed, causing teeth to shift or crowd again.
In a minority of cases, cysts or tumours can form around an impacted wisdom tooth. If these are left to fester, they can destroy your surrounding jaw bone and infect neighbouring teeth, rendering the need for complex and extensive treatment.