My dentist tells me I have impacted wisdom teeth. What does this mean?

It is an unfortunate fact of life that many patients just do not have enough room in the jaws for the teeth they have been allocated! Of this happens, one or more teeth may well fail to erupt or try to erupt into a poor position. In the case of the wisdom teeth, which are back teeth that come through between about 18 and 25yrs old, the teeth may end up half-erupted, in a poor position, or completely buried. This is known as impaction. Your dentist may advise that these teeth should be removed and you should discuss this with him.

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