I did root canal treatment on three lower second molars for three patients today and these three teeth have one thing in common; damaged/decayed lower second molar caused by the lower wisdom teeth. The wisdom tooth only appears in a person's mouth between the age of 18 to 20 – the age which marks the arrival of adulthood and gives rise to an additional wisdom! However, some wisdom teeth are impacted due to limited space in the dental arch and the impaction causes problems like gum infection due to food impaction and decay on the adjacent second molar appears to be a more serious problem.
The recommended treatment in these cases is to remove the impacted wisdom tooth to eliminate food impaction problem so that the patient can clean effectively and to conserve the lower second molar which is a functional tooth. Most lower second molars in these cases have large decay and usually a root canal treatment is needed.