If you have stitches in your cheek after wisdom teeth removal, it means that the molar was most likely impacted towards the cheek. Therefore, it ultimately depends on the location of the impacted third molar.
We will show examples of when you may end up with stitches in your cheek and when you wouldn't after wisdom teeth extraction.
When cheek stitches are necessary after wisdom tooth extraction
When you'd expect to get stitches in your cheek after wisdom teeth removal is if the lower wisdom tooth is impacted towards the cheek. This condition is called a buccal impaction or in layman's terms, a cheek impaction.
Why buccal impaction requires cheek stitches: Buccally impacted third molars are literally located next to or even into the cheeks. The extraction process requires your dentist to make an incision into the cheek in order to remove it successfully. Of course, the consequence of that is needing to place stitches into the cheeks to close up the surgical site.
The intra-oral photo below is an example of what a lower left wisdom tooth that is impacted into the cheeks looks like.
As you can see, the tooth is located partially into the cheek and there is NO WAY to extract this without involving the cheek. A cheek incision is inevitable and cheek stitches will be required once the tooth has been removed.
Dissolvability of cheek stitches
Stitches placed into the cheek after taking out wisdom teeth may or may not be dissolvable. It depends on your dentist's preference and what they think you need after the procedure.
Ultimately there is no way to know if they will dissolve on their own or not unless you ask your dentist. Although they should've told you during the appointment but you may have forgotten!
When cheek stitches are unnecessary after wisdom tooth extraction
All non-buccally impacted wisdom teeth often do not require stitches in the cheek after the extraction. In other words, all third molars that are not impacted into the cheek won't need cheek sutures.
Wisdom tooth conditions not requiring cheek stitches:
Fully erupted
Mesial impaction
Distal impaction
Lingual impaction
Essentially the location of all of these wisdom teeth are NOT into the cheeks and therefore should not require an incision into a cheek thus not needing cheek stitches.
Fully erupted third molar
If the molar is fully erupted, it should be nowhere near the cheeks. This means that your dentist should have no problem taking it out without having to make an incision with a scalpel into the cheeks.
The photo below shows a fully erupted third molar that came out straight.
No incision means no stitches afterwards. A lot of people mistakenly think that stitches are always needed after wisdom tooth removal but that is simply not the case.
Mesially impacted third molar
If the molar is impacted mesially, it should not involve the cheeks since it is not located there. A mesial impaction is when the tooth is pushing towards the tooth in front, the second molar.
The photo below shows a mesial impaction. As you can see the tooth is oriented towards the molar in front of it.
Suffice to say, you won't need stitches in your cheeks after taking this one out.
Distally impacted third molar
If the molar is impacted distally, it should not involve the cheeks and you shouldn't need cheek stitches after the extraction. The reason is because this type of impaction is when the molar is angled towards the back of the jaw or throat.
The photo below shows what a distally impacted third molar looks like. As you can see, the back half of the tooth is covered with a gum flap while the front half is not. This indicates that it is impacted towards the back of the jaw.
The x-ray below shows more clearly what a "distal impaction" means. The tooth looks like it is curving towards the back!https://www.jacksonavedental.com/wisdom-teeth-removal-long-island-city
Lingually impacted third molar
If the molar is lingually impacted, it means that it is located towards the tongue side. That means the tooth is located in the opposite direction of the cheeks and should not require any cheek incision or sutures.
The photo above shows a lingually impacted third molar where it is impacted towards the tongue. In the photo you can see that the gums are still covering part of the tongue side of the tooth while the cheek side is fully erupted.
This situation may require stitches close to your tongue though but that is a completely different condition.
Takeaway
Ultimately, you can expect stitches in your cheek if the wisdom tooth was buccally impacted meaning it is angled towards the cheeks. It's not a big deal since the sutures are meant to help the surgical wound heal quicker.
If you are concerned you can schedule a follow up appointment with your dentist who did the extraction. Our dentists in Long Island City do remove wisdom teeth and this is all that we have to say about this subject matter!
