ATS Quick Poll ... Tell me about your wisdom teeth ..

Sounds strange, I know ... but I'm curious. Dentists are pushing that kids should get their wisdom teeth out when they reach college age. Even if they aren't having issues yet. Im' wondering if it's necessary preventative care OR if it's just doctors trying to get more business for themselves.

- Do you (your family) have your wisdom teeth or did you get them out?
- Did you get them out when you reached college age or some other time?
- Did you wait until there were issues (impacted wisdom teeth, etc) or were there no issues?

What is your opinion .. should college age kids get their wisdom teeth out as a preventative measure or do you think it shouldn't be done until (if) there are issues??? WHY??

Thanks ....

Mine were impacted and removed when I was 16. It was horrible!! I had so much pain it was causing migraine headaches.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Had one causing me some problems when I was in the Army. (20 yrs old) I was talking to the dentist who was going to take it out and told him I was a short timer and he asked me if I wanted em all yanked out. He said that if I didn't have a job lined up with dental benefits and I had any problems with the other three, that it would be quite expensive to have them pulled.

So needless to say, with multiple shots of Novocain he yanked all four of em!

reply to post by FlyersFan
It is my belief that wisdom teeth should only be pulled if they are causing problems such as causing pain from not enough growth room for your other teeth or if you develop problems with them after they have come in. My wisdom teeth have come in one at a time over many years and I still have one that has never come in and I am 46- but X-ray shows me it is there.

Dentists push for people to have them all taken out as children so that they don't crowd the growth of other teeth causing pain or causing them to grow in crooked, but it usually isn't necessary. I say if it isn't broke don't fix it.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Well the majority of the time the wisdom teeth cause impaction, there is a chance that this won't happen but again it does happen most of the time.

If there is no signs of impaction occurring I do not see why one would have them removed.

I had my wisdom teeth removed they were coming in very very badly, they would have messed my whole mouth up if I did not get rid of them.

The 2 on the right side of my mouth i had removed when the became a source of pain after being impacted and i am told i grind my teeth in my sleep.
The 2 on the left are seriously in need of removal but i am told they require surgery which i cannot afford, thankfully they have never caused me any pain...yet...

I've just turned 40 and have never had them come in. Maybe I'm lucky.

I agree with the other poster that said not to bother having them removed unless they're causing you problems.

My daughter is 17 ... going to college ....
No issues with wisdom teeth so far.
The question .. do we wait for a problem or be preventative?
That is why I'm asking the question .. to see what others have done.
Everyone is different, I know ....
But I just want to see ...

I have 3 of them (do you have them on top??? if not then I have 1 left)

I still have all 4 of my wisdom teeth, I'm 20, I haven't had any problems with them at all. They came in fine and without problem, I am thankful for the fact that I have a spacious mouth at least. My parents either have had 2 or 4 removed and my sis had hers removed. It makes me smile with the fact that I was lucky.

Mine are non-existent.
I have none. Weird but true.

I was 24 years old before mine started to cause me problems. I only had three of them, the fourth one is missing. I had them all pulled.

My two children had theirs pulled in their teens when they got braces. Both of them had their wisdom teeth starting to erupt and coming in sideways, crowding the rest of their teeth.

It is my understanding that wisdom teeth are a "left-over" from when we had larger jaws. Apparenly, our diets in the past millenia required much more chewing. Since then, our jaws have gotten smaller, but the amount of teeth remains the same, so something has to give.

Certain races have agenesis (did not grow) of wisdom teeth.

Different human populations differ greatly in the percentage of the population which form wisdom teeth. Agenesis of wisdom teeth ranges from 0.2% in Bantu speakers to nearly 100% in indigenous Mexicans. The difference is related to the PAX9 gene (and perhaps other genes).

www.dentistdig.com...

I would think that the prudent thing to do is wait until they start to cause problems. However, if they do start to cause problems, it's painful as heck when they try and erupt. I can vouch for it.

When I was about 20, I was recommended to have all four removed. The dentist planned to do them two at a time, each side. The first two were so horrific that I refused to have him remove the other two, and actually didn't go back to the dentist for over 20 years. Then I broke a tooth and had to go in for a crown, and the new dentist said that I needed the other two wisdom teeth taken out, which I did after numerous pesterings, and only with the condition that I was knocked out for it.

My daughter is 21 and still has hers, and hasn't been recommended to have them removed.

reply to post by FlyersFan


All four of mine were cut out during the 2 or 3rd week of boot camp. I wasnt happy about it then but I sure am now.

reply to post by FlyersFan


My sister & I both had ours removed. Mine because of the pain, her's was to make sure her teeth stayed straight. Unfortunately my husband's mom didn't have that kind of foresight. After spending thousands of dollars on braces when he was a child she refused to help pay to have his wisdom teeth removed and well lets just say the braces money was poorly spent.

So the short of the story, if your daughter has nice teeth, having her wisdom teeth removed might keep them that way.

I don't have dental so I haven't been able to remove mine, but boy I wish I could. They don't hurt very often at all; it will come and go, but when they attack it's horrible. My gums start to swell up to where it's uncomfortable to close my mouth. Eventually after a few days of suffering they recede (at least I think that's what's going on) It started around 18 yr old and continues on and off until today. They seem to come back with more vengeance each time. My theory is that, every time they recede, they come back more crooked...I don't know enough about dentistry to know if they can do that or if that's exactly whats happening, but it seems to be the best answer I or anyone who knows me well enough can come up with.
About your daughter, that's up to you and her (mostly her). If it were me I would push for it, but I say that only because I know how bad it can get. Surgery is painful to, but it would be an over and done deal after she heals, rather than random pain attacks all the time.

I had a weird experience that totally stumps every dentist I've told it to.

I had X-Rays done when I was 16 that showed my wisdom teeth, clear as day, but they hadn't moved to where they "needed" to be taken out.

Fast forward to age 21 - I had stayed away from dentists for awhile due to being on my own/money/college. Well, when I got my X-Rays from the new dentist - THEY WERE GONE! This was permanent - they've never shown up again. No dentist I've spoken with has ever heard of this happening before. Best guess is my body re-absorbed them somehow. I also had cancer (Hodgkin's) at the time, which I didn't know yet...

So - I don't know if this answers the OP's question, but since it was a Wisdom Teeth story, I thought it was relevant. (ps - I'm 99.99% sure no one has abducted me and removed them - this is ATS, so I thought I'd throw that in, but it does make one wonder! LOL!)

peace,
AB

reply to post by OneisOne


Similar story. Only my younger sister had 7 wisdom teeth and braces! Turns out my grandmother cut two sets of wisdom teeth and had the first set pulled. How common is that? I had just one set and had them pulled while one was impacted. I made sure my children didn't have an extra set hiding and they all cut their teeth without any problems.

I assume mine came through but don't remember it

My sister had major issues and was hospitalised for it, i spent years being terrified I'd go through the same.

No need to remove anything if it isn't an issue imho

Cody

reply to post by FlyersFan


I have every single one of my wisdom teeth. Look...

No really I do. And it seems that the 2 at the very back are still coming through. They are not painful luckily..
My mother father and brother all have theirs too. I think you should only have them removed if the offending tooth is causing pain.. Otherwise leave them be.