Wisdom teeth, just like any other teeth, have their benefits. They can help in chewing, contribute to speech, and maintain the natural structure of your jaw. However, they can also cause problems like overcrowding, pain, and infection.
It's estimated that when left in place, wisdom teeth cause future problems in the mouth two-thirds of the time. They're hard to keep clean, prone to cavities, and often contribute to gum disease.
In fact, where they are not negatively impacting oral and/or overall health, it is best to keep wisdom teeth intact. Properly erupted wisdom teeth provide support in the back of the mouth and help maintain bone in the jaw. This support is beneficial to the health of the temporo mandibular joint (TMJ).
Problems can include wisdom teeth that: Remain completely hidden within the gums. If they aren't able to emerge normally, wisdom teeth become trapped (impacted) within your jaw. Sometimes this can result in infection or can cause a cyst that can damage other teeth roots or bone support.
Increased Awareness of Risks: Wisdom teeth removal is a surgical procedure, and as with any surgery, risks are involved. In rare cases, these risks can include bleeding, infection, nerve damage, and even death.
Pericoronitis is another potential complication that can occur when the wisdom teeth aren't extracted in a timely manner. It's a disease of the gum tissue. The gum tissue around the area becomes infected and inflamed, causing pain and a bad taste in the mouth.
Dentists and oral surgeons recommend that you remove wisdom teeth as soon as they emerge in your late teens or early twenties. If you skip your six-month dental exams or only visit the dentist once a year, your wisdom teeth may be growing without your knowledge and disrupting your oral health.
You'll feel some pressure just before the tooth is removed, as your dentist or oral surgeon needs to widen the tooth socket by rocking the tooth back and forth before taking it out. You shouldn't feel any pain as your wisdom teeth are removed because the area will be numb.
Some wisdom teeth can cause dental problems including overcrowding, impaction (wisdom tooth pushes into gum or another tooth) and cause decay and infection, leading to pain, difficulty chewing and bad breath. If wisdom teeth are causing problems have them looked at by your oral health professional.
Still, just because your wisdom teeth aren't a source of pain doesn't mean there's nothing wrong. The teeth could be stuck, or impacted. That means they can't break through your jaw and into your mouth. Maybe your mouth is too small to make room for them, or the teeth could be growing at an angle to other teeth.
In general, it is much easier to have the wisdom teeth removed around the age of 18 when the wisdom teeth roots are not yet completely formed and hooked to the jaw bone which makes it harder during and after surgery.
Wisdom teeth typically appear between 17-24 years of age, with some people developing them earlier or later. Still, whether they grow earlier or later, there is nothing unusual about it. These teeth grow for a simple reason- to complete your full set of 32 teeth every adult should have.
They erupt between the ages of 17 and 25. Many people need to have their wisdom teeth removed to prevent pain, infection and other oral health problems.
Most wisdom teeth have two to three roots, but they can have more. Because of this, if your wisdom teeth need to be removed, it's easier to do so before the roots start to take hold. However, surgeons do want some roots on the teeth when they remove them.
If you ask an anthropologist, the dominant theory is that early humans developed those extra molars to help chew any and all uncooked food that our scavenging ancestors lived on, like roots and raw meat. Jaws were more pronounced back then, so the extra teeth fit in and enhanced their ability to consume food.
The third molars generally appear much later than other teeth, usually between the ages of 17 and 25 when a person reaches adulthood. They are generally thought to be called “Wisdom Teeth” because they are the last teeth to appear when people are supposedly wiser.
As soon as possible, brush your teeth gently. Brush on the tops of teeth only as you near the surgical sites with your toothbrush.
The wisdom teeth usually appear as white specks just visible over the gums. It's necessary to brush these partial teeth every day. The wisdom teeth usually crowd the mouth when they come in as they don't have any space of their own.
We suggest ice cream, smoothies, mashed potatoes and other soft foods. Arrive at the office in comfortable clothing such as sweat pants and t-shirts. Do not wear contacts — opt for glasses instead. Young ladies should pull their hair back, remove nail polish and jewelry, and leave the lipstick at home.
If I don't want a tooth removed, what else can be done? Two procedures that are commonly used as alternatives to tooth extraction are root canal and apicoectomy. While these procedures are similar, and both attack the cause that seems to warrant tooth extraction, a root canal is by far the more common.
Growing Pains: If your wisdom teeth are hurting, it could simply be them growing in. When they break through the gums it can cause pain, slight swelling and soreness. Cavity: Due to lack of space, wisdom teeth often grow in very close to neighboring teeth.
Best Age for Wisdom Teeth Extraction
Wisdom teeth typically emerge from the gums between the ages of 18 and 25. Most dentists will recommend that removal happen before the age of 26, however extractions can be performed later if necessary.