Cavity in Wisdom tooth? - Dental Health Message Board

openair · 05-25-2009, 05:47 PM

I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed last friday (4 days). The pain has finally subsided and the bleeding almost completely stopped. So I was taking a look at the removed teeth.

The one tooth has what looks to be a large cavity. Only 1 of the teeth was through the gums at all, and only just barely. The hole in this tooth is just between the top of the root and the upper half of the tooth so I dont think it was above the gum line.

Do cavities form below the gums? Or is this a hole they drilled to help remove the tooth? Or a possibly a cavity that has spread from a missed cavity on another tooth?

Stribe · 05-26-2009, 04:39 PM

Cavities do form below the gumline, very often between the teeth (reason why flossing helps). The healthier your gums are, the less likely this will happen as healthy gums will hug the teeth, unhealthy gums will withdraw from the tooth. If you do have a cavity between teeth, its very likely to be on both teeth.
As your cutting question, the only cuts dentists make removing teeth is to section the tooth in half to remove it in pieces, they do not typically make holes when extracting.
Hope this answers your question.