My dentist told me that my wisdom teeth are ‘embedded’ and I need to get them removed. Can you please explain to me what this means and whether it will cause any problems if I decide to keep my wisdom teeth rather than extract them?
J.K.

Dear J.K.,
What your dentist means by ‘embedded’ is that your wisdom teeth are not fully erupted (not fully grown in the mouth) yet. Usually, this is due to insufficient amount of available space at the back of the jaw or when the wisdom teeth are partially blocked by the tooth in front of it or by the bone structure, or both.
Listed below are common problems associated with ‘embedded’ wisdom teeth:

• Constant/recurrent infection or inflammation around the gum of the wisdom tooth;
• Decay/cavities on wisdom tooth itself or the tooth in front of it, or both, due to constant ‘food trap’ either beneath the gum or between the teeth as it is almost impossible to clean these two areas;
• Bleeding gums from wisdom tooth area;
• Constant ‘food trap’ or decay around the wisdom tooth area may cause ‘bad breath’;
• Pain and swelling.

If you have one or more of the problems mentioned above, you should probably consider having your wisdom teeth removed.