What are the consequences of not getting your wisdom teeth pulled?
My dentist told me that I needed my wisdom teeth pulled when I was 16. I’ve heard so many traumatic experiences, that I have avoided the surgery. I assume there’s some reason why so many people get them pulled. One reason, I was told that it would set up repeated infections. I’m now 22 and I’m fine. No infections, except for that one that brought me to the dentist. What’s the deal?
Are they giving you problems? If not, then I wouldn’t worry about it. Not everyone has theirs removed.
Many are removed to avoid crowding because they haven’t enough jaw to accomodate more teeth.
I would suggest researching further (site below) - mine were taken out at age 25, I believe. To this day, almost 15 years later, I have numbness in my chin. If you have to undergo this procedure, don’t forget to order extra laughing gas.
They can also wind up pushing your other teeth forward, undoing any orthodontic work you might previously have had done.
If they aren’t growing in properly, they can be very, very painful as they press against other parts of your mouth. I waited until mine started to hurt to get them taken out, but unfortunately, when they started to hurt, I didn’t have dental insurance, and I HAD to get them done because I was in a lot of pain. I wished I’d done them when I was still insured, when I told my dentist that I didn’t want to have them removed if they weren’t causing a problem.
Then again, some people don’t have any problem with theirs and keep them all their life.
You could get a second opinion from another dentist.
http://www.sfii.com/WisTeeth.htm
Pretty good cite for a little information. Don’t misunderstand what I said earlier though. A GOOD dentist, x-rays, your dental history, etc. should be the basis for any decisions in this regard.
BTW I’ve been lucky in this regard. No problems so far…I’m 41 and have ALL my teeth and never a cavity. 
What t-keela said. I had my first one out at 21, after it got horrendously impacted and my jaw blew up like a golf ball (in 1989 USSR; believe me, with no drugs of any kind, this was no fun. The impaction, not the surgery; I definitely waited until I got home for that.)
The oral surgeon then told me I should do them all at once, and I didn’t listen to him, reasoning that I didn’t believe in preventive surgery. Guess what? 5 years later, the others got impacted, and I had to have them yanked, too - only this time, with no dental insurance.
Pick a good oral surgeon, and listen to his/her advice. Everyone’s situation is different.
You should have had them out as early as possible–there is a stage when they’re just developed enough to withstand being removed without shattering, but still don’t have roots. This makes the removal much less traumatic.
My horror story is that one would have grown into my cheek, one into other teeth, and the top two into my sinuses.
I’m 22. Shouldn’t they have stopped growing now?
According to my dentist, wisdom teeth need only be taken out if it is forseeable that they will cause trouble. If that is not the case, it is actually a better idea to keep them, as they do have a function – as backups if/when you lose other teeth (okay, assuming that you don’t get a prothesis). So, unless you’re growing tusks back there… I’d keep them. 
You can ignore what Sattua says which seems to be based on a sample of one and you can read what’s on the sites mentioned by Blonde and t-keela keeping in mind that the sponsors of each of those sites make their living, in part, by pulling teeth.
I suggest that you consult an unbiased but very well informed source for an analysis of the available evidence. For example, the journal Clinical Evidence from the BMJ Publishing Group (http://www.clinicalevidence.com/lpBinCE/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-hit-h.htm&2.0).
In some people they grow in normally, and you just have four more molars than people without them. I’m in that state.
My grandmother had two of hers out about six months ago at age 101… talk about a nervous oral surgeon! (She still has the other two, by the way.)
As a 38-year old who still gets acne, a lot of things don’t stop as you get older.
But your teeth do change positions as you get older.
I had two wisdom teeth (only had them on the top) removed when I was 30. It was pretty easy.
If they have grown in crooked, they will press against the rest of your teeth for the rest of your life. Sooner or later, the misalignment will cause problems.
My dentist always said that I shouldn’t have my wisdom teeth out unless they were causing a real problem. I wound up with one tooth pushed back so far that it had to be removed - and you can hardly tell from the front because the adjacent teeth were almost touching. I finally got that wisdom tooth pulled a few months ago and the oral surgeon had this look of total disgust on his face when I repeated what the dentist said. Dentists, it seems, always say that and oral surgeons profit.
My dad is in his seventies, still has his wisdom teeth, and has never had problems with them.
I have all four of mine - came in straight, didn’t crowd anything. (Proof I have a big mouth…)
Every situation is different - many people need to get theirs out, others don’t. Get multiple opinions.
Also, another thing to be considered - are you prone to cavities or gum disease? Wisdom teeth can be hard to keep clean, so if you are prone to decay you may want to have them out rather than multiple fillings/root canals/whatever.
Wisdom teeth cause infections when there is no room for them to grow (basically). Imagine what would have happened to your feet if you forced yourself to wear the same shoes from grades one through junior high. Ouch! Same thing when you force your fangs to grow in a teensy weensy jaw.
They also cause problems when they come out at wonky angles. When the teeth think “hey, I know, let’s all grow out sideways! That’ll be a new look!” This can push other teeth out of position and cause other gum infections, wounds to the cheeks, and assorted nastiness.
Other times the teeth start to grow then stop. If they never break the surface of the gums, they can often stay put, if they break the surface even a little then they can decay - and that would totally suck - you’d have a tooth rotting in your jaw! (sorta)
Some people have big mouths - like me! I was able to accommodate my wisdom teeth, no problem. I had plenty of room for them. So they all came in fully (except one that was a touch crooked).
However, while there was plenty of room for the teeth, there was NO room to accommodate cleaning them. Not even the dental hygenist could brush and floss 'em. They were also cutting into my cheeks a bit (sharp little things).
X-rays were showing the early stages of decay. So I asked to have them out to avoid future complications from having them rot in my face.
Good news, since they were all the way out (and I had roots that were haped like this: / rather than like this: /\ ) it was easy to pop them right out. I had them knock me out (to avoid any trauma, I chose unconciousness) and the whole process took about a half hour. No cutting (except for the pesky crooked one) or breaking, just pop, pop, pop, cut-pop.
As Broomstick said, many people do need to get them out, many do not, and some ought to think about it as a proactive measure (like me).
There are also different “optimal times” to do so. In my very lucky case, it was best to wait until they were as far out as they could grow out naturally. But I was more of an exception. For what seems to be a majority of people who need their wisom teeth out, the earlier it’s done the better.
Each case is different, so listen to your dentist and get a second opinion (I did).
I’m 26, so far so good. I’ve had no cavities so I don’t worry about them being hard to clean, just hope that they don’t start playing bumper cars with each other in the future.
My insurance doesn’t cover dental (a fact I found out recently with a $1000 bill 
) but maybe in the near future I’ll have something that does cover it.
I still have all my wisdom teeth, at age 45 (which is more than I can say for my other teeth). At least two are impacted, but they don’t cause me any trouble at all, so my dentist has not worried about them.
I just got my upper teeth pulled and dentures installed. (I am 42)
My teeth were damaged mostly because my wisdom teeth interferred with my bite somewhat. It didn’t seem like a problem most of the time but occassionally i would be chewing something and would have a sensation of biting down wrong that could be painful. eventually I found that my teeth were basically breaking from the stress and small stress frqctures would eventually lead to a section of tooth chipping off which would lead to further decay and more disintegration.
My wisdom teeth themselves were the first i broke and finally had pulled but i had already done quite a bit of damage to my teeth as well as changed my bite significantly even after the wisdom teeth were extracted.
A lot of people have no trouble at all with their wisdom teeth but if you are having bite problems or if the dentist is pretty adamnat about it you might want to consider it. You lose little by having them extracted and could lose a lot by not.
Having 15 or 16 teeth simultaneously extracted and then having to depend on an appliance to do something so basic as eating, (and talking) is a lot more uncomfortable.
I had my wisdom teeth out when I was 16 because they were infected and very, very painful.
I just wanted to counter the OP’s fear: I was back in school the next day with no bruising or swelling. I was given vicodin and took maybe two. All in all, not a traumatic experience and infinitely more pleasant than the infection. If your dentist says you should lose them and you have the insurance, I’d say you should do it.