Ectopic & Supernumerary Tooth

The following list of warnings regarding the removal of
ectopic / supernumerary teeth is neither exhaustive nor is it
predictive. The most pertinent warnings have been included
here.

Ectopic +/- Supernumerary Surgery-Specific Warnings.

Numbness of the Lip, Chin +/-Tongue. The nerves that
supplies feeling to the tongue, lower lip and the chin run risk
that when bicuspid teeth squeezed out of the line of teeth
towards the tongue are removed, these nerves can be
crushed, bruised or stretched resulting in numbness (at the
worse end of the scale) to altered sensation (at the other
end of the scale) in the region of the lower lip, chin and/or
tongue. This nerve bruising tends to be temporary (rarely
is it permanent) but ‘temporary’ can stretch from several
days to several months. It is hard to predict who will get
nerve bruising and if it will be temporary / permanent and if
temporary, how long for.

Mouth-Sinus Communications. Upper premolar & canines
are often in close proximity to the sinus. In removing these
teeth, there is a chance that a communication can be made
between the mouth & the sinus (this is sometimes not
evident at the time of operation but may develop 4 – 6
weeks afterwards). If this communication persists or is left
un-repaired, every time you drink, fluid can come out of the
nose and you may develop a marked sinusitis. This
communication, if small enough, can spontaneously close.
It can be assisted in this by ‘cover plates’ that prevent food
& fluids going into the sinus allowing the hole to close
naturally. However, communications above a certain size
need to be surgically closed.

Surrounding Teeth. The surrounding teeth may be sore
after the extraction; they may even be slightly wobbly but
the teeth should settle down with time. It is possible that
the fillings or crowns of the surrounding teeth may come
out, fracture or become loose. If this is the case you will
need to go back to your dentist to have these sorted out.
Every effort will be made to make sure this doesn’t
happen.

In very rare instances, the surrounding teeth may
actually come out as well as the intended tooth. Extra
teeth can be very hard to get at and in doing so, the blood-
supply to the surrounding teeth may be compromised. If
this happens, these teeth can die (under go ‘devitalisation’);
the teeth change colour (turn grey), become spontaneously
painful or become infected. A tooth that is dying may not
be immediately obvious and may take several weeks to
become so.