Oral Surgery & Wisdom Teeth Dubai

Planning comes before cutting

The difference between routine oral surgery and a complication is almost always what happened before the procedure started.

A CBCT scan gives a three-dimensional view of the surgical site. For lower wisdom teeth it shows the exact relationship between the tooth roots and the inferior alveolar nerve — the nerve that supplies sensation to the lip and chin. For upper posterior teeth it shows the sinus floor.

Neither of those can be judged reliably from a two-dimensional radiograph. Nerve injury during wisdom tooth removal is a serious and largely preventable complication, and prevention starts with knowing precisely where the nerve is.

Wisdom teeth: when removal is genuinely indicated

We do not remove wisdom teeth simply because they exist. Removal is indicated when:

• Recurrent pericoronitis — repeated infection of the gum flap over a partially erupted tooth
• Decay that cannot be restored, either in the wisdom tooth or in the second molar it is pressing against
• Cyst formation around an unerupted tooth
• Damage to the adjacent molar from an angled impaction
• Pain or pressure attributable to the tooth

A fully erupted wisdom tooth that you can clean and that causes no problems can reasonably be monitored. A clinic that recommends removing all four as a matter of course is not diagnosing.

Types of impaction

How difficult the surgery is depends on the angle:

Impaction	What it means	Typical difficulty
Vertical	Upright, may be partially erupted	Often straightforward
Mesial	Angled forward into the second molar	Moderate
Horizontal	Lying on its side	More involved
Distal	Angled backward	Moderate to difficult

Your scan determines which applies, and we explain it before you consent.

The procedure

Anaesthesia. Local anaesthetic is given and tested before anything begins. You should feel pressure and movement but not sharpness — tell us immediately if you do.

Access. A small incision exposes the tooth. Some bone may need removing, and the tooth is often sectioned into pieces so it can be removed through a smaller opening. Sectioning sounds more invasive but is usually less traumatic than levering out a whole tooth.

Delivery and debridement. The tooth is removed and the socket cleaned of any follicular tissue.

Closure. Sutures are placed. We commonly use dissolvable sutures so a removal appointment is not needed.

A single straightforward extraction takes twenty to thirty minutes. A difficult impaction takes longer.

Bone grafting and socket preservation

Bone begins resorbing as soon as a tooth is lost, fastest in the first year. Where an implant is planned, socket preservation — placing graft material into the socket at the time of extraction — maintains the ridge and often removes the need for more invasive augmentation later.

Sinus lift is required when the upper posterior jaw has insufficient bone height because the sinus has expanded downward. Graft material is placed beneath the sinus membrane to create the height an implant needs. It adds months to the implant timeline, which is why it is planned from the outset rather than discovered mid-treatment.

Ridge augmentation widens a ridge that has narrowed over years without a tooth.

Being direct: grafting is sometimes recommended reflexively. Our position is that the scan decides, and where angled or shorter implants can achieve stability in available bone, we use technique rather than graft material.

Recovery, day by day

First 24 hours. Bite firmly on the gauze for the time specified. Ice intermittently — twenty minutes on, twenty off. Do not rinse, spit forcefully, or use a straw; these dislodge the clot. No smoking. Soft, cool food.

Days 2–3. Swelling peaks and then begins to settle. Bruising is normal and can track down the jaw. Start gentle warm salt-water rinses after 24 hours. Continue prescribed medication.

Days 4–7. Swelling reduces noticeably. Jaw stiffness is common and eases with gentle opening. Most people return to work within two to three days.

Week 2 onward. Sutures dissolve. The socket fills with tissue over several weeks; complete bone fill takes months.

Contact us promptly if

• Pain increases after day three rather than easing — the classic sign of dry socket
• Swelling worsens after day four, or you develop fever
• Bleeding does not stop with firm pressure
• Numbness in the lip or tongue persists beyond the expected anaesthetic duration
• You cannot open your mouth or swallow comfortably

What we tell you before you consent

Every surgical procedure carries risk. For wisdom teeth those include dry socket, infection, temporary or — rarely — permanent altered sensation in the lip or tongue, sinus communication in upper cases, and jaw stiffness.

These are uncommon, and planning from a 3D scan reduces several of them substantially. But you should hear them before you agree, not after. We set out the risks, the alternatives including doing nothing, and the likely consequence of each.