Should I get my wisdom teeth out
I have a general philosophy on removal of wisdom teeth. Basically, do it if they have ever given the slightest trouble and you are under 25 and the risks seem minimal. Reasons for removal are varied:
Wsidom teeth are the hardest to clean and often decay early- filling them can be virtually impossible due to space and access. If they can’t be filled or cleaned, they will eventually decay to the point where they cause major pain and problems - this is not the best time to remove wisdom teeth. Bacteria impacts under the gum causing decay or nasty infections - this can be life threatening, but usually is just a pain. It also puts the adjacent teeth at risk - see the photo! The older you get, the harder the bone is and the more difficult to remove the teeth, and the worse result on healing. If you are likely to keep your wisdom teeth for life then that is fine - but I have had to remove wisdom teeth from a 90 year old and that is a serious risk. As you age you may be on medications or have health issues that complicate surgery. Some medications such as bisphosphonates for osteoporosis and bone diseases can be related to post surgery wounds that never heal and are acutely painful (see www.nundahdental.com or http://www.ada.org.au/newsroom/article,documentid,109063.aspx for more info. If your dentist suggests removal of wisdom teeth it is usually in your best interests in the long run.
What are the risks of wisdom teeth removal? - the nerve supplying sensation to the lower lip and tongue can be damaged resulting in permanent numbness of these areas. This risk is usually very small and your dentist can judge the risk better by looking at your X-ray -(usually an OPG X-ray). If the risks are great they may advise against removal - but if the tooth is decayed or infected you may have no choice - again, the earlier these teeth are removed, the less the risk of problems.
I am happy to supply more info if anyone is interested.
March 11, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I am 41 year old female with all 4 wisdom teeth fully erupted. I have no problems with them at this time. My dentist did a probe and I had a number 5 on the molar next to the lower left wisdom, the rest of the mouth probed normal. They scaled it and put in antibiotic. Then my dentist suggested that I have them all removed, so I scheduled it for next week. He says he feels the risk of gum disease from not being able to reach them properly could cause a problem later. I do not want to endure unneccesary surgery (nothing to fool with), but I also don’t want to wait for something worse to happen. What do you think . I’ve already had 4 teeth pulled when I was a tween-two at the top and two at the bottom, they told my mom I had too many teeth for my mouth.
March 14, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I don’t know if you have already had your wisdoms out yet or not.
I can’t give an exact opinion without an X-ray but an educated guess. I have had gum specialists advise me to remove wisdom teeth on certain patients to make cleaning of the teeth more reliable and therefore preserve the other teeth. If you have difficulty cleaning the wisdom teeth (in the opinion of your dentist when they look in the mouth) or you already have fillings in the wsidom teeth, and now there is a gum disease risk, then I say take them out. It will give you less heartache when you are older and you can maintain your remaining teeth better
BUT
If you have few fillings and good hygiene and see a dentist regularly, and generally you can maintain the teeth and good overall health - I would say a probing of 5 is perhaps a little premature to remove the wisdom teeth. Perhaps a periodontist can keep cleaning and maintain the gums at this hieght.
Secondly, if the Xray shows your wisdom teeth to be risky to remove and there are high risks of damage to the nerve in your jaw, then maybe it would be ok to monitor the gum disease and only remove the tooth when the gum disease has lossened the tooth (if your teeth are erupted I expect this option is unlikely)
I hope this gives you some info - my advice would be to just ask your dentist again if there is more reason than just the 5 probing depth to base theit decision on. (I still think if they are already gone, it is probably for the best)
Good Luck - Marc
April 8, 2008 at 4:27 am
Do not get your wisdom teeth out for more info please visit http://www.teethremoval.com.
May 18, 2008 at 7:03 am
Hi..I m 21 years old male and today i saw a small cavity in one of my wisdom teeth by chance.I have no pain,no trouble …just seen the cavity by chance.My wisdom teeth had appeared just 8 months ago.I went to dentist and he told for filling..had clean it today..havn’t said or even advised for removal..anything happen if i would leave my teeth as such without filling coz i have no problem with it.
should i get my wisdom teeth out without any problem or should i go for filling?
May 18, 2008 at 9:18 am
Hi Ashish. If your wisdom teeth are coming through straight, and there is room for you to clean them, and room for the dentist to do a filling, then there is no reason to remove them. If they are hard to reach and clean, or crooked like the above photos, then it is worth discussing the options with your dentist after they get an Xray of it. By all means get a second opinion if still unsure.
The important thing to remember with all decay is that it doen’t hurt until it is too late. Don’t wait for pain!
If you need a small filling now it is easy and will last for years, if you wait it will cost more and probably fail earlier, and if you have a toothache you will spend a lot of money on root treatments or have to have a tooth removed.
If you need an extraction and the tooth is solid it is easier to remove, if you wait until you have pain it may be harder to numb up, or the tooth may crumble and be harder to extract meaning more time,expense,and pain, or worst case you may end up with a nasty infection and be worse off.
Whether you have pain or not, you should always be proactive and seek to look after your body and look at what’s best for the long term. A stich in time saves nine as they say. Hope this helps somewhat
May 18, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Thanks for the help …
The teeth are straight so I will go to the dentist for filling but i think the cotton he had put in the cavity after cleaning it yesterday goes inside my stomach and he told me not to remove of your own and it won’t go anywhere.
Can i wait for 2,3 days?
May 18, 2008 at 7:25 pm
If the tooth was dressed with cotton wool already it sounds as if the cavity was already very large. I would seriously ask the dentist if this tooth is worth filling, or what the expected lifespan of this filling would be. It seems like removing the tooth may be a better option.
If the tooth is fillable, then 2,3 days is probably not going to be a problems. If it becomes painful it was probably way to big a hole to start with.