Do they break your jaw to remove wisdom teeth?

In most cases, wisdom teeth removal does not require breaking the jaw. Oral surgeons commonly use a variety of techniques to safely extract wisdom teeth, including:

1. Elevators and Forceps: Elevators are used to gently loosen the tooth from the surrounding bone, while forceps are used to grasp and extract the tooth.

2. Sectioning: If a wisdom tooth is impacted (stuck in the jawbone), the dentist may divide it into smaller sections to facilitate removal. This process is known as sectioning and does not involve breaking the jaw.

3. Surgical Extraction: In some cases, a surgical approach is necessary for wisdom teeth extraction, especially for deeply impacted teeth. However, this does not mean the jaw is broken. The dentist makes an incision in the gum to access the tooth, carefully removes overlying bone, and safely extracts the wisdom tooth.

It's important to remember that every case is different, and the appropriate technique for removing wisdom teeth is determined by the dentist or oral surgeon based on factors such as the position of the teeth, their orientation, and the individual's dental anatomy.