Wisdom teeth removal - pros and cons

[LittleMissMagic]

I'm 21 and still have my wisdom teeth because my orthodontist hasn't given me the go-ahead to get them taken out. Mine are apparently sitting upright, so they're watching to see if they'll ever come in and keep giving it "6 more months." That being said, when/if the orthodontist tells me to get them removed, I will do it because I'm not about to risk messing up my perfectly straight teeth that my parents paid for.

My sister had her wisdom teeth removed when she was 15. They were sitting sideways and were going to cause movement if she didn't get them out ASAP. Was it painful for her? Of course. She had my mother apply ice packs to her cheeks regularly to keep the swelling down, too.

IMO, it's like braces - something miserable you do during your youth, and it feels like the worst thing in the world at the moment, but 10 years later, you hardly remember it except the funny stories you have of being on morphine. It would best to do it now when she's just a teenager than risk her having to get it done later in life when she is working and has a family.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I'm 41 and have all of my wisdom teeth. I was told as a teenager that there wasn't enough room and that they'd make my teeth crooked. Not true. Not sure why they weren't taken out though.

The only issues I have are that every time I go to my dentist they comment on how many teeth I have. Plus one of the medications I take causes dry mouth which causes cavities and I had a cavity in a wisdom tooth. It's really hard to get back there!

 

[Melbourne5]

Had all 4 taken out when I was 25. Best decision I ever made ( except a week of agony). I was getting migraines as a result of crowding and have not had one since (18 yrs) and counting. It was a long week though after surgery...

 

[tvguy]

(I didn't think you needed to wear your retainer for life)

DW got braces as an adult (6 teeth removed including wisdom teeth before) and the orthodontist made it clear she should plan on wearing retainers for the rest of her life at night. 30+ years later she still does.....did have to go in for an adjustment about 5 years ago. And orthodondist said there would be no charge for adjustments, just for remaking the retainer if she broke it.

Me, I'm 55+ and still have my wisdom teeth. I had the same dentist from age 12 to age 48, he said if they aren't bothering me, leave them in. Guy who bought his practice was always after me to get them out.......got fed up with all his efforts to run up my dental bill, switched about 2 years ago, new dentist says he have lots of patients who never get their wisdom teeth out, and sees no reason to remove them if there are no problems.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I am in my late 30's, and I just had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out at Thanksgiving time. I was getting terrible infections around the wisdom teeth from food such as popcorn kernals, etc.

I also had trouble flossing since my teeth were so tight together.

It scared me to death to have this procedure done, but it turned out to be the easiest thing ever. I am so happy I had it done. My teeth aren't crowding anymore and I don't get infections now.

I didn't get my wisdom teeth in until I was in my late 20's. I wish this was something I could've done when I was younger.

Thank goodness my medical insurance (not dental) picked up the entire bill which was over $2,000!

 

[Kies99]

Sorry, I say if it's not broken, don't fix it.

I had one of my wisdom teeth taken out and still have the rest. They don't bother me at all. If there is not a need to take them out, I would just leave them.

Words that I live by daily! If they are not causing a problem, then there is no need to do anything. It might be worthwhile just to have the oral surgeon look at them, but again if they are not causing problems then don't do anything.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

DH is 59 and still has his wisdom teeth.

I never got any.

 

[SueInBoston]

I'm 50 and wish I had mine removed. I have all 4, I was advised in my early 20's to have them removed and I didn't heed the dentist's advice. altho I've never had any pain, my teeth have shifted through the years. FLossing back there is a pain and I have cavities back there too.

DD19 had all 4 of hers (impacted)removed last year..it was absolutely piece of cake. She only took motrin once and was eating the next day.

 

[kerstfan1]

i had mine removed before i was 20 there was nothing wrong yet but im one off those persons were cavatitys are normal so my dentist said it was best to get them out now so i did not get anny problems and i had 2 one month the other 2 a month later and besides normal pain i had no extra pain

 

[mom2travel]

You really need to speak with the dentist, preferably in person with your daughter so you can all look at the x-rays (which the oral surgeon will need as well). All my childrens' x-rays showed that the wisdom teeth could not come in properly and needed to be removed. Each had all four wisdom teeth removed at one time on a Friday school holiday or over the summer, so they did not miss school.

This sounds like my DS17. His dentist referred us to an oral surgeon after looking at his x-rays at a checkup. I went with DS for the consultation and could see on the films where the teeth were. He had one sideways, one starting to pop through but nowhere to go, and the other two with very little room for when they came in.

The surgeon recommended taking the first two out and gave us the option for the other two, with his opinion being that they might come in straight but it would be a tight fit and they'd likely need to come out at some point. DS opted to get all four out at once, so as to not need surgery twice. His surgery was last Friday, the first day of his spring break. he was lucky - minimal swelling (though I kept on him to use the ice), and only needed ibuprofen for the pain. Never needed the steroids for swelling or the heavy pain meds.

If it makes a difference, he did have braces and is very good about wearing his retainer.

And I was worried about being "sold" on the removal; my dentist does stuff like that all the time & it drives me crazy. seeing the X-rays helped ease my mind. I suppose we could have only had the two taken out, but given that DH had his removed, and although I still have all of my teeth the wisdom teeth are jammed tight in there, and i could see how small the space was in ds' mouth, we figured it was likely anyway

Good luck OP! Ask questions. Look at the X-rays. You can always see what the surgeon says and then decide. :

 

[clm10308]

I had all four of mine out at 16 because they were turned sideways and would not have cOme in correctly. At the time, I was not yet experiencing any discomfort due to the teeth. I had a by quick recovery, and spent the next day at the local county fair eating ice cream.
My DH was in his early 20s when his wisdom teeth were taken out after being impacted. He had several weeks of pain before being able to schedule the extraction, and was quite miserable for about a week after.

My DD18 just had two of her wisdoms teeth removed. The two on the bottom were were located very low in her jaw and too close to the nerve. Had the roots been allowed to form, they would have grown around the nerve. That would cause them to be very difficult to remove later with the potential for nerve damage.

 

[mjkacmom]

I got my first wisdom tooth at the age of 28. I had mine removed because my perfectly straight teeth (braces) were starting to shift. My dentist said they were healthy, but my teeth would get crooked - no thanks!

Dd16 is having some trouble with hers. She didn't have any permanent teeth removed with her braces (palate expander - I had 6 removed), and there is some crowding. She will have them removed over the summer (she has such a perfect smile).

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

It just seems so strange to me to have surgery for something that *might* cause trouble. We don't have our appendix removed because it might cause trouble at some point.

I did! When I scheduled my hysterectomy, I asked my GYN if she could take my appendix while she was in there, and she did!

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Also, consider that because of the location, wisdom teeth are often difficult to clean properly. Most dental insurance won't cover fillings in wisdom teeth, so it is OOP or have them pulled later.

 

[Shmily1]

I can relate to this post. I had several teeth pulled before I got braces (for too many teeth for my size mouth) and my braces off when I was 16. When I had my braces put on, I was told I had no wisdom teeth so that wouldn't ever be a worry. When I was 26, I went to have my teeth cleaned and they asked when I wanted to get my wisdom teeth out. I explained that I didn't have any... then they showed them to me on the xray. There they were, two on the top (still none on the bottom), already through the and in place. I hadn't even known it although I had wondered why my perfectly straight teeth were not so perfectly straight.

I finally gave in and had them removed in October of last year (many years after I was 26!!). DD22 was laughing because about a year ago, she had hers cut out (hers were sideways and painful so she ASKED to have them out ) and I just had to have my only two pulled. We both did great and are glad we did it, but it took me years to do it!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[DipsyDoodles]

They will most likely cause problems as an adult. First off, since they are so far back, they will be difficult to clean and floss. All of mine came in perfectly, never needed braces, my teeth are perfectly straight. As a teen I really wish my dentist would have recommeded they come out. Now, at 44 years old, I have to have them pulled because, as suspected, they are causing some problems now. The roots are long so the extraction won't be pleasant.

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd, now 19, had something in her mouth from the time she was 4!! She had braces, of some kind, until she was 13!!! We knew she had a small mouth, and we figured sure as shooting she would need to have teeth removed. But it didn't happen.
So.....at her dental appt last spring, she mentioned that she had pain in the back of her mouth. The dentist had to do xrays anyway, and found that wisdom teeth were indeed coming in. She told dd to wait and see. She had some minor pain but nothing that meant a quick trip to the dentist. So, when she went in January, we figured they would give her an appt for wisdom teeth extraction...even though dd said that they really weren't bothering her anymore. Well, the dentist told her that the teeth had come in perfectly. What she had felt was normal 'teething'!!! It would seem that all that ortho work, for 10+ years, had paid off. It allowed her jaw to open up and allow for the growth of those adult teeth.
I wouldn't automatically take the dentists word for it. It almost seems to be the 'proceedure du jour' lately. There was a point, last year, when it seemed that every other kid in my dd's class was having wisdom teeth removed!!! And not just one..in multiples. It would seem that insurance pays for it, it's a fairly simple proceedure, so why not.

 

[ReneeA]

I had all 4 wisdom teeth come in straight and have lots of room in my mouth, so they didn't cause problems, and I didn't have them removed at the time.

At 35, I had an upper one crack, so my dentist popped it out in his office. Just some Novacaine and some manpower...no big deal, I worked the next day. He told me at the time that eventually I'd have to have the opposing wisdom tooth removed since it will grow forward and shift without the upper tooth putting pressure on it. I did just have the lower tooth pulled last month 4 and a half years later. It had a cavity, and it had grown up quite a bit.

The day I made the appointment to have the last one pulled, I told the receptionist to put me down to have the remaining 3 all pulled (didn't want to have to go in one at a time). My dentist called me back within the hour and told me that he was only pulling the one that needed to come out...that many dentists and oral surgeons believe in taking them all whether it's necessary or not, but he will not pull good teeth. He made the point to me that if I ever need a bridge or something in the future, he wants those decent wisdom teeth there to attach it to.

It really surprised and impressed me that he won't just do what puts more $$ in his pocket.

 

[goofy4tink]

They will most likely cause problems as an adult. First off, since they are so far back, they will be difficult to clean and floss. All of mine came in perfectly, never needed braces, my teeth are perfectly straight. As a teen I really wish my dentist would have recommeded they come out. Now, at 44 years old, I have to have them pulled because, as suspected, they are causing some problems now. The roots are long so the extraction won't be pleasant.

I had mine pulled, well two of them, as an adult. The first one when I was pregnant...that was interesting to say the least. The second one when I was about 30. I don't think it was any worse than what I see kids going through now.

 

[LisaR]

I did! When I scheduled my hysterectomy, I asked my GYN if she could take my appendix while she was in there, and she did!

You had absolutely nothing wrong with your appendix, but your doctor removed it anyway? That is bizarre to me and I would question any doctor who would willingly do that.