Approximately 85% of the time people need to have their wisdom teeth removed during their lifetime, owing to the many issues they can cause—including misaligned teeth, gum pain, cysts, and potential adjacent tooth damage. But there’s more to the story we did not know before; a new study has found that wisdom teeth extraction can have an added benefit—that of improving your ability to taste foods. This challenges the notion that removing third molars has potentially negative effects on taste in the long term. The study, undertaken at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is one of the first to focus on wisdom teeth extraction and taste.
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Compensating for Damage
Wisdom tooth extraction has long been thought to affect taste because immediately after this procedure, up to 20% of people lose tasting ability on the side of their tongue closest to the removed tooth. However, these effects are only short-lasting. In the long term, people actually have an improvement in tasting abilities of between 3% and 10%. The researchers believe that this can be attributed to the fact that the nerves supplying the taste buds in the back of the tongue could potentially begin to work harder to remedy the damage to nerves in the front of the tongue. Another hypothesis is that nerves affected by the extraction simply become more sensitive once the normal function returns.
A Bad Taste in Your Mouth?
If you have had one or more wisdom teeth removed and you have a bad taste in your mouth or issues with your breath, know that this, too, is temporary. It can take several weeks for gum tissue to grow over the sockets that get left behind after surgery. Food can get stuck in the sockets, thus causing an unfamiliar taste. Although you should not rinse your mouth out for the first 24 hours post-surgery, after this time, you can gently rinse your mouth with warm water containing a pinch of salt. Allow the water to flow out of your mouth instead of spitting. As the days go by and swelling subsides, you can rinse a little more vigorously.
Remove Wisdom Teeth Young to Reduce Nerve Injury
If you want to reduce your chances of nerve damage during wisdom teeth extraction, aim to have this procedure at the ideal time (from the mid-teens to the early twenties). During this time, the wisdom teeth have not yet fully developed. As people age, the roots of their wisdom teeth usually grow closer to the inferior alveolar nerve. This nerve is, therefore, more likely to get injured during an extraction procedure. Recovery is also easier for younger patients, who experience lower levels of bleeding pain, and inflammation. Finally, removing wisdom teeth earlier improves the alignment of teeth and can therefore facilitate the work of orthodontists.
It is normal to have a ‘funny feeling and taste in your mouth’ for a few days after a wisdom tooth extraction. However, the good news is that your tasting abilities actually improve in the long term. The reason is thought to lie with the activity of nerves in the back of the tongue. Some researchers also believe that nerves can become more sensitive following this procedure.
Also Read:
Wisdom Teeth | Things You Need to Know
When Can I Eat After Wisdom Tooth Extraction?
What to Eat After Wisdom Tooth Extraction?
How to get rid of bad breath after wisdom teeth removal?
When Can I Smoke After Tooth Extraction?
