What problems can impacted wisdom teeth cause?

When a person is having wisdom tooth infection, they would normally experience pain and swollen gums. At times, when the wisdom tooth is not growing properly, it may cause trapping of bacteria around the area that may potentially spread to the throat area. Rinising with mouthwash or salt water may sometimes help with minor cases. Other times, wisdom tooth removal may be warranted to prevent more severe problems like teeth decay or jaw bone loss. The dentist will normally need clinical examination and radiograph before advising you on the complexity of the wisdom tooth removal, if it is needed.

Usually wisdom teeth are not aligned during Invisalign unless the teeth are fully erupted an in function (you are using it to chew). I do not routinely ask my patients to remove their wisdom teeth prior to Invisalign as we do not usually require the space that the wisdom teeth occupy for alignment. In certain specific cases, the upper wisdom teeth may need to be removed to allow distalization (where all the teeth are moved backwards in the arch) as part of a camouflage treatment.