When Should a Wisdom Tooth Be Removed?
It was a sunny Monday morning in late May 2014. I was standing in a conference room, presenting our weekly project status update to my team.
“We made good progress last week, we’re still under budget and … ouch!”
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my right cheek and stopped me mid-sentence.
With a few involuntary pauses, I somehow managed to finish the presentation, but the pain refused to go away. In the cafeteria, I instinctively reached for the medicine cabinet — one aspirin. Then another. Just to be safe, a third.
At first, the pain seemed to ease. But only a few hours later, it came back — stronger than before.
“This won’t go away on its own.”
The Cause: Impacted Wisdom Teeth
While searching for the cause, I remembered an old X-ray from my last dental visit. One quick look was enough — the answer was obvious:
Four impacted wisdom teeth.
These teeth had never fully emerged through the gums and remained partially or completely trapped in the jawbone. Wisdom teeth like these can stay unnoticed for years, but suddenly begin causing severe pain, infections, swelling, or pressure on neighboring teeth.
I had postponed my regular dental checkups for too long — and simply ignored the “wise four.”
When Does a Wisdom Tooth Need to Be Removed?
Not every wisdom tooth needs to be extracted automatically. However, removal is often recommended if:
- severe pain or pressure develops
- inflammation or recurring swelling occurs
- there is not enough space in the jaw
- neighboring teeth are damaged or pushed out of alignment
- cavities or gum problems develop
- the wisdom tooth grows at an angle or remains impacted
Whether removal is truly necessary can usually only be determined through a dental examination and an X-ray.
The Difficult Search for an Appointment
It quickly became clear to me: I needed help — and fast.
But finding the right specialist turned out to be far more difficult than expected.
After hours of online research and numerous phone calls, I realized how complicated and time-consuming it could be to secure an appointment at short notice. Even more frustrating was the lack of transparency regarding treatment costs: every private dentist seemed to give me a different estimate.
As the pain grew worse, a quick appointment still seemed out of reach.
An Unexpected Solution
After several weeks without any real progress, I made a spontaneous decision:
I flew to Bulgaria and had all four wisdom teeth removed by a specialist — without months of waiting and at a fraction of the cost.
The relief afterward was enormous.
But one question remained:
“Can finding a good dentist in Vienna really be this complicated?”
The Idea Behind DentalAce
This experience made me think.
There had to be a faster and more transparent way to find dentists, compare real patient reviews, and simplify the process of booking appointments.
That is how DentalAce was born.
Today, I take my dental health much more seriously and go for a checkup at least every six months. Regular preventive care can not only help avoid pain, but often prevents expensive treatments as well.
Our advice: Don’t wait too long if you experience problems with your wisdom teeth. The earlier issues are detected, the easier — and often gentler — the treatment tends to be.
