Wisdom Teeth in Melbourne

Removal of wisdom teeth doesn’t hurt as long as you are numb. However, there can be some vibration and noises that patients will experience, and if the procedure is difficult, it’s recommended to do it under general anaesthetic for comfort reasons. Removal of wisdom teeth is usually not recommended if you have a big swelling or abscess, because the anaesthetic won’t work very well, that’s also when patient usually get bad experiences. So it’s better to have them removed prior to getting pain or infection.

For lower wisdom teeth there is a nerve that exits your brain in front of your ear and behind the jaw bone. This nerve provides feeling but no motor function to structures it innervates which means it supplies feeling and taste to your mouth, but not movement.

If this nerve is damaged during the procedure, you can experience numbness of your lower lip and chin, but this only occurs in one patient out of every 5,000 treated. Nerve damage can also cause numbness and loss of taste in some cases, although this is even rarer, occuring in only one patient out of 15,000 treated.

For upper wisdom teeth there are no nerves in the area, however these teeth are close to the maxillary sinus (the air space under your eye that gets stuffed up when you have a cold). The risk is that extraction of upper wisdom can lead to an opening into the sinus. This is not a big issue and can be closed at the time of extraction. The only downside is that if this occurs you should not blow your nose for one month, just squeeze and wipe.

On the day of surgery, you will experience moderate discomfort. You should drink liquids, avoid solid foods, and avoid using a straw. After 24 hours, you can start eating soft foods, but it is recommended that you stick to soft, easy-to-chew foods for 5-7 days following your surgery. Foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals, such as soups and broths, are great during this first week as they can help heal the wound and reduce swelling.

The average cost of wisdom teeth extraction in Melbourne is between $350 – $650 per tooth depending on the difficulty of the extraction.

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Every patient and situation is different. Usually removal of the upper wisdom teeth is quite straight forward and within 1-2 days you’ll be up and running. The lower wisdom teeth can be challenging and depending on the difficulty of the extraction you can expect some swelling and pain after the procedure, and can take anywhere between 1-2 days, to 1-2 weeks for a full recovery.