opinion on wisdom teeth removal

[Anonymous]

Both my teens went to our regular dentist who said dd does not need hers removed, but ds does because they are impacted. It was a couple months ago. Ds's teeth have emerged, but they do not bother him at all. Do you think they always need to be removed if dentist says so? I want to schedule in summer if we do it which is why we're taking our time. I'm also weary of unnecessary procedures and it seems like opinions are divided on this topic. Wdyt? Dentist would not be the one doing it. He referred us to an oral surgeon.

[Anonymous]

I'd just get them looked at. Due to crowding, my wisdom teeth damaged one of my back molars very badly.

[Anonymous]

Our oldest didn't have hers removed until they started causing pain (headaches) and crowding her other teeth. They were all impacted. The dentist told us many years ago they would need to come out but we waited until they started causing issues.

I just had 2 of mine out at 51. I would have kept them forever however one got a cavity and a crack and the options were to put a crown on it or remove it. I went with having them out (just one side).

So no, not all wisdom teeth need to come out.

[Anonymous]

My dentist is not at all someone who pushes procedures in any way. But he did encourage me to get my wisdom teeth out, even though they were not bothering me one bit and were in straight.

What he said is that when you're older, you're more prone to having problems that are harder to fix, you don't heal as quickly, and are more likely to get complications.

So I got mine out at 47 and it took less than a half hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dentist is not at all someone who pushes procedures in any way. But he did encourage me to get my wisdom teeth out, even though they were not bothering me one bit and were in straight.

What he said is that when you're older, you're more prone to having problems that are harder to fix, you don't heal as quickly, and are more likely to get complications.

So I got mine out at 47 and it took less than a half hour.

I had mine out at 35. They were all impacted. The surgery itself took less than an hour but I had a long and painful recovery and some complications including dry socket and developing a hematoma. My teen DD recently had hers out, they were all impacted too, and her recovery was 2-3 days of discomfort. I so wish I had mine out earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dentist is not at all someone who pushes procedures in any way. But he did encourage me to get my wisdom teeth out, even though they were not bothering me one bit and were in straight.

What he said is that when you're older, you're more prone to having problems that are harder to fix, you don't heal as quickly, and are more likely to get complications.

So I got mine out at 47 and it took less than a half hour.

I had mine out at 35. They were all impacted. The surgery itself took less than an hour but I had a long and painful recovery and some complications including dry socket and developing a hematoma. My teen DD recently had hers out, they were all impacted too, and her recovery was 2-3 days of discomfort. I so wish I had mine out earlier.

My understanding is that dry socket is from food particles falling into the "holes" and creating an infection that's painful. I was cautioned to use the needle thing after each time I ate to "wash out" the holes and to do it repeatedly until I saw no more food particles, to not eat anything small (like chia seeds) and to not use a straw or suck anything. Sucking could dislodge the blood clot that needed to form over each extraction site.

[Anonymous]

It is easier to get them out if they are not impacted and its done in the summer as a teenager. Do not have them removed during the school year as full recovery can take a while.

[Anonymous]

You don't need to remove them until they cause pain. Anything else is a money grab.

[Anonymous]

Both of our children, B/G had their impacted wisdom teeth removed and during the school year.

They’re fine.

[Anonymous]

If they have emerged, they are not by definition, impacted. That involves them growing at an angle, under the gum, towards the next teeth in line and pushing everything out of alignment.

[Anonymous]

Both of our kids had them removed - they were impacted, I could see it on their xrays. Spouse had theirs out, but at 59, I still have all 4 of mine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is easier to get them out if they are not impacted and its done in the summer as a teenager. Do not have them removed during the school year as full recovery can take a while.

Mine had his out on a Friday in October where there was no school. He could’ve gone to school on Monday but there wasn’t much he could eat so I let him stay home. He went in on Tuesday and ate pasta the rest of the week for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Mine had his out at 16. For three of the four it was clear they were pointing sideways and would mess up all his other teeth. Because the roots of the wisdom teeth had not already attached to the jaw and my son declined full sedation, the entire thing took 20 minutes. The longest part would have been waking up from sedation. No dry sockets, no real long term pain. I had one taken out in my 40s and it was a much longer surgery and recovery. If your kid will need it someday it’s so much easier to do it now.

[Anonymous]

I'm 48 and have never had any problems with mine. I realize the plural or anecdote is not data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 48 and have never had any problems with mine. I realize the plural or anecdote is not data.

Yes, I'm 48 and also never had problems with mine, yet got them out last year. It's preventative. Eventually they will probably need to be taken out and the longer you wait the harder the recovery is and the more likely complications are. This is what my long-time dentist explained to me. It's why I finally got them out last spring.