“When to remove my wisdom tooth?”

March 6, 2020 5:03 am Published by admin

The wisdom of removing wisdom teeth before they cause trouble has long been debated. The human jaw has been steadily decreasing in size for millenniums and few people have a jaw large enough to accommodate four more teeth in the back of the mouth. In only a small percentage of people do wisdom teeth actually grow straight into normal position and can be kept clean and healthy. As a result, many teeth grow sideways, emerge only in part thus remaining in part trapped under the gum tissue. As it is impossible to clean such teeth, infection and inflammation can develop, and this may even damage adjacent teeth.

Thus, two schools have emerged, on one hand, some dentists believe in: “Don’t bother them until they bother you and on the other hand, most dentists believe it is better to remove the wisdom teeth out when a person is young and healthy since there is more than 80 % chance that the wisdom teeth are likely to cause trouble eventually.

Those who advocate early removal of the wisdom teeth note that as patients get older, the surgery becomes more difficult, the complications more numerous and the recovery more prolonged.

However, both parties agree that wisdom teeth causing some of the symptoms described should be removed.

Below are the most common complications of leaving malpositioned or impacted wisdom teeth in place:

Nowadays, with new advances in Dentistry, removing a wisdom tooth is done in the Oral Surgeon‘s’ office, under local Anesthesia. It is a quick – one day – surgery, with minimal post operation effects. 

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