# Not getting your wisdom teeth pulled **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194 "2004-01-02T00:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/21 "2004-01-02T10:47:41Z")
When I was a kid in braces my orthodontist didn’t pull my wisdom teeth. Well, a few years ago, my left lower wisdom tooth became impacted, and caused a splitting _earache_ of all things! I had the two wisdoms on that side pulled. By this time they’d already crowded my lower jaw to the point that my right incisor has slipped back a bit, and now sticks a bit weird. But my boyfriend thinks its cute, so I’ve not fixed that… yet. My dental problems will probably last longer than my relationship, after all. When I had them pulled, I got the full anesthesia treatment. Mainly because I cannot handle dental pain of any sort. I need anesthesia (like, general) for any sort of drilling. I have a weird constitution and novocain has almost no numbing effect on me. Needless to say, I found that out the hard (and painful) way. ---
**Author:** ![CairaJade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@CairaJade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairaJade)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/22 "2004-01-03T03:43:54Z")
Because mine break through then heal. Break through then heal. Break through then heal. I have a new empathy for teething babies, it hurts like hell. I’m 25 and this has been going on for about 4 years. They’ve also undone my years of orthodontics on the bottom, but not too badly. ---
**Author:** ![Themis00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@Themis00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themis00)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/23 "2004-01-04T04:24:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \* > \*\*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) > \*\* This is my case. :o 3 of them haven’t even came to surface at all. One of them the edge closest to my throat has popped a little out of my gum, creating a little hole between that tooth and my other non-wisdom tooth (TMI) where food always gets trapped in. I didn’t know about the teeth rotting part though. Yikes! :eek: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![USNSPARKS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9fc348/32.png) [@USNSPARKS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USNSPARKS)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/24 "2004-01-04T11:41:35Z")
Here’s my experience with wisdom teeth. One day when I was 20 I woke up and found I couldn’t open my mouth very much. I was in no pain whatsover. About 3/8 to 1/2 inch at best. I remember I could just slide my thumb tip between my teeth sideways. Course all I could think of was lock jaw since my symptom matched the name of that malady. Went to a dentist. Did he ever have a job getting his mirror and Xray gizmos into my mouth. He said I had four impacted wisdom teeth and they needed to come out right away. He also recommended they be pulled in the hospital vice his office. So off I go to the hospital for the surgery. I’d have to say the worse part of the entire experience was the nurse trying to get an IV into my vein. After trying both arms at least a half a dozen times I was ready to jump up and smack her silly! Everything went well and I went home and was told to stay in bed for a day or so which I did. I went to the bathroom once and happened to glance at the mirror. What a shock, my face was the size of a volley ball. Okay, maybe not that big but it was swollen quite a lot. I also had a really sore chest. When I went to have the stitches pulled out I asked the dentist about my chest. He said they had played a game of football on top of me while I was out like a light. (Dental humor has never been all that great.) To this day I still don’t know why the four impacted wisdom teeth would lock my jaw up like it did. As a really weird aside, for some reason I asked the Dr. to save the teeth after he pulled them out. He gave them to me in a little glass jar. I’m now 58 and if memory serves me correctly I still have that bottle of wisdom teeth somewhere. Please don’t ask why I would make such a request. Even I can’t explain it. I’ve always been VERY curious about most everything. ---
**Author:** ![kpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c57346/32.png) [@kpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kpm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/25 "2004-01-04T14:06:59Z")
For people who don’t like the dentist there are now dentists who put you to sleep during your visit. It’s called sedation dentistry and it works well. The dentists who do this get extra training. My dentist does this for other patients but I don’t need it. There is probably at least 1 dentist in your area that does sedation. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/26 "2004-01-04T15:15:17Z")
While we’re all weighing in with our experiences, here’s mine: I never had any. I don’t mean they never grew in - they’re not buried in my jaw or hiding somewhere biding their time, either. Some people only ever get 28 teeth, including only 2 molars in each quadrant. My previous dentist, who was pretty old and experienced, told me I was the only person he’d met that just didn’t have any. But another dentist told me that this occurs in about 2% of the population. I’ve never read anything authoritative about it or resolved this apparent discrepancy. I got lucky. ---
**Author:** ![bsane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@bsane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bsane)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/27 "2004-01-04T16:22:40Z")
All four of my wisdom teeth came in fine, but in the long run it was difficult/impossible to take care of them. All four began to develop cavities in places that were difficult to reach. The removal went extremely well, my dentist removed the first three in about 60 seconds and spent a minute or two on the fourth one. The worst part was have my entire face numb for the rest of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/28 "2004-01-04T18:48:56Z")
They wanted to pull all four of mine. I turned the x-ray light back on and said it looks like the top two are straight and have plenty of room. The Dr. said without hesitation, fine we can just do the two lowers. Those were at a bad angle and looked like they were already moving and pushing on other teeth. 20 years later and no trouble with the top two. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/29 "2004-01-04T19:25:22Z")
I had all four of mine removed at once. I was way impacted. Apparently I swore like a sailor under anesthesia, too. heh heh heh. I used to get sore throats all the time, that totally stopped. All in all, I’m very glad I had it done. E3 ---
**Author:** ![BlackPheonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BlackPheonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackPheonix)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/30 "2004-01-04T20:56:56Z")
Screw this. I have em, never been to a dentist and hopefully never will. They grew there and they seem to be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/31 "2004-01-04T21:19:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Themis00 \* > \*\*I’m 22. Shouldn’t they have stopped growing now? \*\* I’m 24 and still waiting for one to drop (had the other 3 plus a back tooth pulled to make way for that guy as the back tooth was too long). Teeth are funny. I have a 19 yr old friend who is still waiting for his two incisors to drop. He has big gaps waiting for them to come but nothing yet. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194/32 "2004-01-04T23:00:51Z")
I had my wisdom teeth out when I was about 25. They were impacting and causing me pain. I actually had to push to get the dentist to X-Ray my jaw. I had them out under full anaesthetic and spent the next few days only able to consume fluids. For any dentists reading, I have a moderately deformed jaw - my teeth do not meet at the front. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-pulled/222194.md?page=1)