Wisdom Teeth Removal
Wisdom teeth often crowd, impact, or partly erupt, which can cause pain, infection, and damage to nearby teeth. When they need to come out, our oral surgeons make it as quick and comfortable as possible.
Book a consultationWhen wisdom teeth need to come out
Not every wisdom tooth has to be removed, but they should be evaluated. Common reasons to remove them include impaction, crowding, repeated gum infections, decay you cannot clean, or cysts. A panoramic or CBCT image shows exactly what is going on.
The procedure
Removal is a routine procedure for an oral surgeon. Depending on the position of the teeth it ranges from a simple extraction to a surgical one. We plan it from your imaging so there are no surprises, and most patients are in and out the same morning.
Sedation options
You are not stuck white-knuckling it. We offer local anesthetic, nitrous oxide, oral sedation, and IV sedation administered by our surgeons. We help you choose the right level so the procedure is comfortable and, with sedation, often a blur you will not remember.
Recovery
Most people feel substantially better within a few days. We send you home with clear, written aftercare: how to manage swelling, what to eat, and how to avoid dry socket. If anything worries you afterward, you call us and we answer.
Cost and financing
Cost depends on how many teeth, how they are positioned, and your sedation choice. Many plans cover medically necessary extractions. We verify your benefits and offer Cherry, Affirm, and Sunbit financing.
What happens at your consultation
The first visit is about information, not pressure. We take a panoramic X-ray, and when the roots sit close to a nerve or the sinus, a CBCT 3D scan so we can see the exact position in three dimensions. Your surgeon looks at how the teeth are angled, how much room there is behind your second molars, and whether decay, bone loss, or infection has already started. Then you get a straight answer. Sometimes that answer is that your wisdom teeth are upright, fully erupted, and cleanable, so there is nothing to do but keep an eye on them. When removal is the right call, we walk through which teeth are coming out, how they will come out, which sedation options fit you, and what recovery is likely to look like. You leave with a written treatment plan and a cost estimate, and you are welcome to take it home and think about it. If you have a general dentist, we send our findings back to them.
Your day of surgery, step by step
Plan for a low-key morning. If you are having IV sedation, you will be asked not to eat or drink for a set number of hours beforehand, and you need a responsible adult to drive you home and stay with you for the rest of the day. Wear comfortable clothes with sleeves that push up easily, and leave contact lenses at home. Once you are settled, we review the plan, confirm your medical history and medications, and get you numb or sedated. The surgical time itself is usually shorter than people expect. When it is done, we place gauze, keep you in a recovery chair until you are steady, and go over aftercare with whoever drove you, because sedation makes instructions hard to remember. You go home with written instructions, any prescriptions you need, and a number that reaches us directly.
The first week, and what to eat
Swelling usually peaks around day two or three and then settles. Cold packs on and off during the first day help, and sleeping with your head slightly elevated makes a real difference. Take pain medication on the schedule we give you rather than waiting for discomfort to build. For food, think soft, cool, and easy: yogurt, smoothies eaten with a spoon, eggs, mashed potatoes, soup once it has cooled, pasta. Avoid straws, smoking, and vigorous rinsing for the first several days, because suction and pressure are what dislodge the clot and lead to dry socket. Skip seeds, chips, and anything crunchy until we clear you. Most people take a couple of days off work or school and ease back into exercise after that. Call us if bleeding will not settle, if pain gets worse instead of better after day three, or if you run a fever.
Why an oral surgeon, in a multi-specialty office
Wisdom teeth sit in a crowded part of the jaw, close to the nerve running through the lower jaw and the sinus above the upper molars. Our oral and maxillofacial surgeons, Dr. Rosenstein and Dr. Watkins, do this work daily and administer IV sedation here in the office, so you are not sent somewhere else for anesthesia. Being part of a multi-specialty practice matters most in the cases that are not simple. If a wisdom tooth has damaged the molar in front of it, our endodontists and restorative dentists are down the hall. If an extraction site may one day need an implant, the surgeon removing the tooth can graft the socket at the same appointment so that option stays open. You are not left coordinating separate offices that never speak to each other. Call (713) 322-7474 to book an evaluation at 106 W Gray Street.
Frequently asked questions
Does wisdom teeth removal hurt?
The procedure itself is done under anesthetic or sedation, so you should not feel it. Some soreness afterward is normal and is managed with the aftercare we provide.
How long is recovery?
Most people feel much better within a few days and back to normal within about a week. We give you written instructions to keep it smooth.
Do I have to remove all four at once?
Not necessarily. We remove what needs to come out. Doing several at once under one sedation is common and means one recovery.
Will I be put to sleep?
You can be. We offer everything from local anesthetic to IV sedation by our oral surgeons, and we help you pick the right level.
Ready to talk it through?
The fastest way to a clear answer is a consultation. Call (713) 322-7474 or book online. More on Oral Surgery