Those pesky wisdom teeth do not stop growing just because there’s a pandemic. Sadly. However, more and more people are putting off these “elective” surgeries. We’re doing everything we can to comply with the laws and regulations in San Francisco, but we’re also looking forward to the legal and orderly re-opening. 
When that happens, reach out to us for a consultation on safe wisdom teeth removal post-Coronavirus in San Francisco.
Your wisdom teeth are in some ways similar to your appendix in that you don’t need wisdom teeth anymore and neither do you need your appendix. However, most people don’t need their appendix removed, but the opposite is true of wisdom teeth: most people DO need them removed.
Why? Well, going back thousands of years, caveman – your ancestors – needed wisdom teeth to help chew tough foods, but today we don’t have to go hunting and eat the odd deer raw for dinner. So gradually, over the years the need for wisdom teeth has diminished and our jaws have grown smaller. However, wisdom teeth still keep coming, but in most cases, there is nowhere for them to go.
The Last Teeth To Erupt
They are called wisdom teeth because they are the last teeth to erupt and don’t usually arrive until you are in your teens. By that time, you are assumed to be old enough to have obtained some wisdom. But instead of just giving up and quietly leaving us alone, those wisdom teeth keep on trying to find their way out.
The result is that they can push other teeth out of the way, damage gums, cause infections to grow, grow sideways, and take up many different positions in the gum and bone and generally make themselves unpleasant and troublesome. Sometimes, even tumors or cysts can grow around the impacted wisdom teeth causing destruction of the jawbone and healthy teeth.
These problems are usually resolved by removal of the impacted wisdom teeth, and the earlier this is done, the better. If you are having any issues with your wisdom teeth, talk to us now about wisdom teeth removal post-Coronavirus.
Our Dr. Rabinovich or Dr. Sandler can take X-rays of the mouth and carry out an oral examination in our pleasant San Francisco offices to determine if there are any present problems or whether there will be going forward. If it is necessary to carry out wisdom teeth removal post-Coronavirus, the procedure is usually carried out under local anesthesia or light general anesthesia in our San Francisco office. The procedure is not a lengthy one, and you will rest in our office under supervision until you are ready to be taken home.
Photo credit: Dave Dugdale via Foter.com / CC BY-SA