Q: During my recent cleaning my teeth were probed by the hygienist and apparently there were 7mm pockets towards the back of the two molars adjacent to where my wisdom teeth are partially erupted. These are the only pockets I have and would have had my wisdom’s removed earlier if I knew there was such activity but my previous dentist missed it. I have read that is extremely common to have pockets due to wisdom tooth eruption, especially if they are impacted and are pulling the tissue away from the tooth. So my multi part question is :
- Does a 7mm pocket next to an erupting wisdom tooth necessarily mean bone loss or is there a chance bone loss has not occurred yet? Trying to figure out whether 5mm+ automatically equals bone loss.
- There is currently inflammation due to the impaction plus whatever else terrible is going on. Is it common for a pocket to appear 7mm in depth due to tissue inflammation.
- What usually comes first? The wisdom tooth extraction or the adjacent pocket treatment?
As you can see I did a little research but I know my limits and am acknowledge I need best-in-class professionals on my side. Thanks in advance for your response.
A: It is common to have periodontal pocketing and inflammation between the wisdom teeth and the adjacent 2nd molars. Most of the time, there is bone loss present. Depending on the individual clinical situation and evaluation of x-rays, our first step is to decide if removal of the wisdom teeth is necessary. If it is, then we would extract the wisdom teeth first and then treat any remaining periodontal pocket issues with the laser.
