Wisdom Teeth Removal in San Jose, CA
Wisdom Teeth Removal provided by Dr. McMurray
and Dr. Chehrehsa
in San Jose, CA at South Valley Oral and Facial Surgery
 If wisdom teeth pain, crowding, or impaction has you weighing your options, South Valley Oral and Facial Surgery provides surgical wisdom teeth removal in San Jose, CA, performed by two board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeons.
Most patients we treat have wisdom teeth that are partially erupted, impacted at an angle, or pressed against neighboring molars. These are exactly the cases general dentists routinely refer to an oral surgeon.
Our surgeons have spent their careers handling exactly these cases. Whether your wisdom teeth need to come out before they cause problems, or you’re already in pain and want them gone, our team plans the procedure around your specific anatomy and your comfort level. We offer IV sedation and general anesthesia alongside local anesthesia and nitrous oxide, and we’ll walk you through what each option means before you commit.
You don’t have to drive across the Bay Area to find a surgeon who treats complex impactions every week. We see patients from across San Jose, Gilroy, and Los Banos, and most procedures wrap up faster than people expect, including surgical extractions of all four bony impacted wisdom teeth.
On This Page
What Are Wisdom Teeth and Why Removal Matters
 Wisdom teeth are the third and final set of molars that develop at the back of the jaw, usually between ages 17 and 25. By the time they arrive, most jaws have already settled into their adult shape and there’s simply not enough room. That’s why so many people end up needing them removed, often before the teeth themselves cause obvious symptoms.
Impaction is the most common reason for surgical removal. A wisdom tooth becomes impacted when it can’t emerge through the gum at the proper angle, either because it’s tilted forward into the second molar, sideways across the jawbone, or stuck below the bone entirely. Even when an impacted tooth doesn’t hurt, it can still damage the molar in front of it, create a pocket where bacteria collect, or set up a cyst that slowly hollows out the surrounding bone. We use CBCT imaging for wisdom teeth evaluation at the consultation to see exactly where each tooth sits relative to the nerve, the sinus, and the neighboring roots before we plan anything.
When Should Wisdom Teeth Come Out?
The classic window is the late teens and early twenties, when the roots aren’t fully formed and the surrounding bone is still relatively soft. Recovery is faster, and the surgical risk of damaging the nerve is lower because the roots haven’t had time to wrap around it. That said, plenty of adults in their thirties, forties, and beyond come to us with wisdom teeth that have finally caused trouble. Age alone doesn’t disqualify anyone. Our 3D imaging technology lets us evaluate the situation in adult patients with the same precision we use for younger ones, and we adjust the surgical approach to match.
Common Symptoms That Bring Patients In
Some patients come in because their general dentist flagged a wisdom tooth on a routine X-ray. Others come in because something hurts. The symptoms we hear most often are a dull ache or pressure at the back of the jaw, gum swelling around a partially erupted tooth, a bad taste from food trapped under the gum flap, jaw stiffness, or recurring infections in the same spot. If you’re already in pain, the consultation usually moves quickly because the X-ray confirms what your mouth is already telling us.
Your Wisdom Teeth Surgeons in San Jose
Dr. Joseph McMurray, DMD, MBA, FACOMS, is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon with more than 35 years of surgical experience, and his full background is on Dr. McMurray’s bio. He founded our Gilroy office in 1997 after 11 years with the U.S. Navy, where he served as fleet oral surgeon aboard USS Nimitz and clinical department head at U.S. Naval Hospital in Naples, Italy. He continues to treat wisdom teeth, impactions, and complex extractions across the South Bay and Central Valley.
Dr. Arian Chehrehsa, DDS, ABOMS, NDBA, is dual board-certified in both oral and maxillofacial surgery and anesthesiology. That second board certification matters specifically for wisdom teeth removal, because the same surgeon performing your procedure is also the one trained to manage your IV sedation or general anesthesia. He grew up in San Jose, attended Leland High School and Santa Clara University, then completed his dental training at NYU and his surgical residency at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. More on Dr. Chehrehsa’s bio.
Wisdom teeth removal is the most common procedure either surgeon performs, and complex impactions, including teeth fully embedded in bone or sitting close to the inferior alveolar nerve, are a daily part of our caseload. That volume matters. The difference between a routine extraction and a complicated one often comes down to how many similar cases the surgeon has handled in the last month.
What to Expect During Wisdom Teeth Removal
Wisdom teeth removal at our San Jose office is typically a single appointment for the procedure itself, scheduled after a separate consultation a few days or weeks earlier.
Consultation and 3D Imaging
Your first visit is an evaluation. We take a panoramic X-ray and, when the case calls for it, a CBCT scan to map the position of each wisdom tooth in three dimensions. The CBCT shows us exactly how close each root sits to the inferior alveolar nerve in the lower jaw and the sinus floor in the upper jaw. We use those measurements to plan the surgical approach and to flag any tooth that needs extra care during removal.
Choosing Your Anesthesia
You decide what level of sedation feels right for you, with input from us based on what the X-rays show. Local anesthesia alone works well for simple, fully erupted wisdom teeth. Nitrous oxide adds a layer of relaxation while you stay awake. IV sedation puts you in a comfortable twilight state where you’re technically responsive but won’t remember the procedure. General anesthesia takes you fully under, and because one of our surgeons is dual board-certified in anesthesiology, we can deliver that level of care in-office with the same team performing your surgery. Many patients leaning toward IV sedation read our dedicated page on wisdom teeth removal under IV sedation before making a final decision.
The Procedure Itself
Most wisdom teeth removals, including all four at once, take 20 to 45 minutes of actual surgical time and happen at a single visit. Erupted teeth often come out with simple extraction techniques. Impacted teeth require us to make a small incision in the gum, sometimes remove a small amount of bone, and occasionally section the tooth so it can be removed in pieces through a smaller opening. We close the surgical sites with dissolvable sutures, so there’s no separate stitch-removal visit.
Recovery and Post-Op Care
You’ll rest in our office until the sedation wears off, then go home with someone driving you. Most patients take it easy for the first 24 to 48 hours with soft foods, over-the-counter or prescription pain medication, ice on the cheeks, and instructions to avoid straws and smoking to reduce the risk of dry socket. Swelling peaks around day three and improves quickly after that. We send written post-op instructions home with you and keep the same guidance in our After Wisdom Tooth Removal post-op care guide for easy reference. A follow-up visit lets us check healing.
Benefits of Timely Wisdom Teeth Removal
 Removing wisdom teeth before they cause problems is one of the few dental procedures where the case for acting early is genuinely stronger than the case for waiting.
When wisdom teeth come out in the late teens or early twenties, the roots are short or still forming, the surrounding bone is more pliable, and the soft tissue heals fast. The same procedure in someone in their forties takes longer, involves more bone work, and carries a longer recovery. Our CBCT imaging lets us evaluate root development and bone density precisely before surgery, which matters more in older patients but shapes the surgical approach in every case we plan.
Timely removal also prevents the specific complications impacted wisdom teeth tend to cause. An impacted tooth pressing against the second molar can erode its enamel or its root surface, sometimes badly enough to require root canal treatment or extraction of an otherwise healthy molar. A partially erupted wisdom tooth can become infected repeatedly through the gum flap that covers it. And in rarer cases, an unerupted wisdom tooth can develop a cyst that hollows out a portion of the jawbone over several years, which then needs grafting to rebuild. We see all three patterns regularly in our San Jose consultations, and the imaging on day one usually tells us how far along each one has progressed.
That last point connects to our implant work. When a tooth is removed and the underlying bone has already been compromised by years of impaction or infection, we sometimes recommend socket preservation at the same appointment to maintain bone volume in case future implants are needed in that area. Because we handle wisdom teeth, bone grafting, and implant placement in the same practice, the surgeon removing your tooth can plan that bone-preservation step in real time rather than coordinating it across separate offices later. Most wisdom teeth patients don’t need this step, but it’s worth knowing the option is there when it does apply.
Why Choose Our Surgical Team for Wisdom Teeth Removal in San Jose
Most general dentists in the San Jose area refer complex wisdom teeth cases out, and a meaningful share of those referrals come to us. Both of our surgeons are board-certified in oral and maxillofacial surgery, which is a four-to-six year hospital-based residency after dental school. That training is the reason we handle bony impactions, nerve-proximity cases, and full IV sedation under one roof.
Volume matters as much as credentials. Wisdom teeth removal is the most common procedure we perform, and our surgical team moves through impactions efficiently because we have done this together for years. Patients regularly come in worried about how long surgical extractions of four bony impactions will take and find that the actual surgical time is under 20 minutes. The rest of the appointment is sedation onset, monitored recovery, and post-op instructions.
We also handle our own anesthesia. Many oral surgery offices bring in a separate anesthesia provider for IV sedation cases. With one of our surgeons dual board-certified in anesthesiology, your sedation and your surgery come from the same team that knows your case, which simplifies safety monitoring and shortens the appointment.
Continuity of care matters too. Our San Jose office is the largest of our three Bay Area and Central Valley locations, and patients who come in for wisdom teeth often return to us for other oral and facial surgery services such as implants, orthognathic surgery, and pathology evaluations because the surgical record is already in our system.
Wisdom Teeth Removal Cost and Financing
Cost is a fair concern, and we’ll be straight with you about what affects it. The cost of wisdom teeth removal in San Jose depends on a few specific factors: how many teeth are being removed, whether each one is erupted or impacted, whether bone removal or tooth sectioning is required, and which level of anesthesia you choose. A single fully erupted wisdom tooth under local anesthesia is at the simpler end. Four bony impactions under IV sedation is at the more involved end.
Most dental insurance plans cover at least a portion of wisdom teeth removal, especially when the teeth are impacted, and many medical insurance plans contribute to the surgical and anesthesia portions when the case meets medical-necessity criteria. Our front office team verifies your specific benefits before the procedure and provides a clear, itemized estimate, so you know exactly what you’ll owe before you sit down in the chair. The full list of accepted plans, plus CareCredit financing for patients who want to spread the out-of-pocket portion across monthly payments, is on our insurance and financing details.
Call our San Jose office at 408-479-9449 to start the benefits verification process. Most patients have a clear picture of their expected costs within a day or two of that call.
Schedule Your Wisdom Teeth Consultation
Whether your dentist just told you it’s time or you’ve been putting this off because of the pain, the next step is a consultation. Call South Valley Oral and Facial Surgery at 408-479-9449 or request an appointment online to get on the schedule. We’re at 5595 Winfield Blvd Suite 202 in San Jose, CA. Most consultation appointments are available within a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I be awake during wisdom teeth removal?
That’s your decision, made with input from us. Local anesthesia alone keeps you fully awake and aware, with the surgical area numb. Nitrous oxide adds relaxation. IV sedation puts you in a comfortable twilight state where you’re technically responsive but typically don’t remember the procedure afterward. General anesthesia takes you fully under. Most patients with four impactions choose IV sedation; most with one or two simple extractions choose local anesthesia or nitrous oxide.
How long does the actual surgery take?
The surgical time itself is usually 20 to 45 minutes, depending on how many teeth and how impacted they are. Patients often expect a much longer procedure than they get. The total appointment runs longer because of sedation onset, monitored recovery, and post-op instructions, which together typically add an hour to an hour and a half on either side of the surgery itself.
What is dry socket and how do I avoid it?
Dry socket happens when the blood clot that normally forms in the extraction site gets dislodged before the wound has healed, exposing the underlying bone and nerve endings. It’s painful and usually shows up two to four days after surgery. The two biggest preventable triggers are sucking through a straw and smoking, both of which create suction that pulls the clot loose. Avoiding both for the first week, along with following the soft-food and gentle-rinsing instructions we send home, brings the risk down significantly. The detailed list of steps to avoid dry socket is in our post-op care instructions for wisdom tooth removal.
Do all wisdom teeth need to be removed?
No. A wisdom tooth that has erupted fully, sits in good alignment, and is reachable for daily cleaning can often stay. We do recommend imaging every few years to confirm nothing is changing under the surface. Removal becomes the right call when a tooth is impacted, partially erupted, causing infection, damaging a neighbor, or sitting in the path of planned orthodontic treatment. The consultation is where we sort which category each of your wisdom teeth falls into.
How long is the recovery from wisdom teeth removal?
Most patients feel functional within three to five days and return to normal eating within a week. Swelling peaks around day three. Many people schedule the surgery for a Thursday or Friday so the worst of recovery falls on the weekend, and most are back at work or school by Monday. Full bone healing inside the socket continues for several months underneath the surface, but you won’t feel that part.
Am I too old for wisdom teeth removal?
No. We treat patients in their thirties, forties, and well beyond. The procedure is somewhat more involved in older adults because the roots are fully formed and the surrounding bone is denser, which means slightly more surgical time and a slightly longer recovery window. But age by itself isn’t a reason to leave an impacted or symptomatic wisdom tooth in place. The risks of leaving a problem tooth typically outweigh the surgical considerations.
Does dental insurance cover wisdom teeth removal?
Most plans cover a portion when the teeth are impacted, though the exact coverage varies widely. The same procedure code can pay 80% on one plan and 50% on another. We run a verification through your insurer before the appointment so you get a written estimate with the actual dollar amount you’ll owe, not just a percentage. The plans we accept are listed in our insurance and financing options.
Why should I see an oral surgeon instead of my general dentist?
General dentists are trained to handle straightforward extractions, and many do simple wisdom teeth. They typically refer the more complex cases to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, which is what both of our surgeons are. The cases that benefit most from an OMFS are bony impactions, teeth sitting close to the inferior alveolar nerve, patients who want or need IV sedation or general anesthesia, and patients with medical histories that make surgical complications more likely. If your dentist has already referred you for wisdom teeth, this is usually why. |
