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Your London dentist has a lot of experience at treating impacted teeth. Impacted teeth are teeth that have not erupted fully or not erupted at all into the oral cavity This is usually caused by; teeth crowding, a misaligned tooth or teeth, another tooth blocking the eruption of the impacted tooth, or the tooth being attached to bone and not being able to erupt into the mouth. Wisdom teeth are the teeth most often to be found to be impacted. Usually when the dentist views a panoramic X-ray, they can tell if a tooth is impacted or not. It seems that the lower wisdom teeth are more often impacted than the upper wisdom teeth. This is usually due to the lack of space in the lower dental arch. Impacted teeth almost always require removal, due to their ability to continue to grow and form cysts, and cause other more serious problems. Retaining this impacted tooth can also cause crowding of the erupted teeth, and if they impinge on the cementum of an adjacent tooth and a root canal may be required. This is due to the enamel being harder than the cementum and dentin of the tooth. Partially erupted teeth can also have a piece of gum tissue over them and food and bacteria can be trapped underneath the gum tissue, causing an infection. This infection should be treated before the tooth is removed. So, visit your London Dental Clinic for help with your impacted teeth!