Okay, so I can feel at least one my wisdom teeth starting to come out from underneath the gums. It doesn’t hurt at all, just kinda weird to have something back there, where there was nothing. And it feels like there’s enough room in my mouth for them.
I know it seems like everyone has their wisdom teeth out, but really, does everybody have to have them out?
Nope. I’m 39, and have never had them removed. I did have one pulled a few months ago, but only because it had a cavity down to the root, and it hurt like hell. I could have had a root canal to keep it, but it was so far back, it wouldn’t have been worth it. The rest of them are just fine, apparently, and causing no problems.
I have mine and get to keep them. I had enough room in my big mouth for them to come in okay.
Your dentist is obviously the best one to tell you, but really, it depends on the shape and size of your mouth. If your wisdom teeth growing in is going to push your other molars forward and thereby mis-shape your mouth, he is going to have them out. My mouth is very small, and I had all four of them out at a fairly early age. (They came in at 15. He was afraid they would just come back in if he took them out then, so he had me wait until they started hurting, at 17, and took them out).
Oh…if you do get them out, people will tell you a million horror stories. It all depends on the person - I was better after a weekend and the pain was minimal. It also depends on if you’re allergic to any kind of painkillers, which I am not.
It sounds like the one that’s coming in is not yet a problem, and may not be, but have your dentist x-ray the jaw back there. Sometimes they get stuck against the other teeth, and grow up into your sinuses. Super-nasty. I had two like that, one set to grow out the side of my gums, and one growing straight forward into the other teeth.
I had mine out a couple of years ago. The lower right one was coming in sideways and was pushing against the other teeth. The lower right one cracked. I had that one and the upper two (which were okay) pulled by my dentist. The sideways one had to be cut out. I was lucky in that I had no major pain.
If you’ve been going in for regular dental checkups, and the dentist hasn’t said anything about it, then they’re probably not going to cause you any problems, at least in the near future, and you can safely let 'em be. Although it wouldn’t hurt to specifically ask the next time you go in.
If you haven’t been going in for regular dental checkups, it would be a good idea to do so, for reasons besides those relating to your wisdom teeth.
Do you have bad sinuses? Do you have trouble flossing? Are they impacting your other molars? If they’re not, don’t worry about it.
My dad, who’s 85, kept his in and had no problem. My brother, who had his taken out on the Navy’s dime while he was stationed in Saigon, had cascading dental problems for decades as a result of a bad wisdom teeth pull. I waited until I was 33 and was having serious problems from them. Three came out, the fourth would’ve been too much trouble so I left it in.
I have heard that once your jaw heals, it’s actually stronger for having the wisdom teeth yanked. Not sure how that’s determined or measured, though.
Elenia28:
Huh???
I could be wrong —it’s certainly possible —but I don’t think it works that way. If they get pulled, the body doesn’t make replacements, whether you want them to or earnestly hope against it. Well, OK, we get two sets (baby and adult teeth) but one would not mistake a wisdom tooth erupting for a leftover baby tooth.
I haven’t had mine pulled and I am 34. I am too chicken. 
But I do believe there has been a downside to that for my teeth. I had braces when I was younger. My teeth ended up pretty straight. But from where I never had my wisdom teeth pulled and with them trying to come in they have knocked the alignment on my teeth out of wack. Just my opinion haven’t heard it from a dentist.
I’m 26 and I have mine. I was in braces when they came in (I guess they came in late, I was 20ish) and my orthodontist said he just filed them down. Haven’t had any problems.
I’m not sure about this, perhaps someone with better knowledge can come in and clarify, but isn’t the U.S. one of the only countries that routinely yanks wisdom teeth?
I’m 52, and still have mine. Of course, they did extract four of my bicuspids when I had braces, so that probably made enough room.
The can be problems with wisdom teeth – if the jaw isn’t big enough, then the wisdom teeth can cause problems and crowd the other teeth out of alignment. It’s done pretty routinely in the US, and there’s always the chance it’s done too often, but I don’t know if anyone has looked into the issue.
I had mine until a week ago. I got the bottoms ones out when I was 18. I didn’t have dental insurance back then so I only had the bottoms pulled because it was starting to push my bottom teeth around and ruin my naturally straight teeth.
Problem was the tops keep growing down. Enough that they hit my lower teeth and gums. Hurt like heck. Saw my dentist and he took them out last week.
I’m 47. Had my lower ones out a year ago. They were “partially erupted,” which meant that hygienists were never able to get to them properly. Oh, and they were tilted. The top ones never emerged at all; I can feel them, sort of, but they’re still covered up completely with gums.
The various dentists (I’ve moved around some) have been ambivalent. My current dentist recommended to get them all taken out, so I went to the oral surgeon that my dentist recommended, who said, “you don’t really need to do this.” The decision took a few LONG moments, but as I said above, I compromised. My regular dentist hasn’t complained.
The procedure itself is nothing. They stuck a needle in my arm (I assure you, I didn’t watch) and the next thing I know, it’s over, and I’m feeling pretty good. Well, yes, the anaesthetic wore off a little later, but by that time, it’s like any another injury or temporary disease to just get through. Pain killers are your friend: take as directed.
My non-medical advice: don’t do it if you don’t need to do it. Otherwise, while it’s not fun, it’s a lot better looking back at it than spending several years at procrastination.
Age 57 and still have mine. Until they were knocked out by a 40’ of 10" pipe that got away one day working on a pipeline my uppers in front were PERFECT . I’d even been asked if I had had them capped. The bottom bunch weren’t quite as good, but still okay, over average I’d estimate.
Two of mine were removed years ago due to problems; the other 2 are still there and doing fine (though ineffective at chewing, with no tooth on the other side).
When I asked my dentist about them, he said that, as a general dental principle, they try to keep your natural teeth in place & functioning as long as possible. A good natural tooth is better than any replacement the dentist can provide. So they only remove a tooth when they absolutely have to.
I don’t know if you are still looking at this thread, I just noticed this question.
Ok this was years and years ago, but what I took to understand was that sometimes they do. Supposedly he had people who had **baby wisdom teeth ** come in early, took them out, and then they grew back in.
If this is false then he deserves a good kicking, because the gaps on the bottom never closed fully (so there’s a gap between the last tooth and my jaw wall) and for *years * I was worried they would come back in!
Same here, except mine didn’t hurt at all. Bled like a sonuvabitch, though.
I’ve heard that the reason that so many people need to have their wisdom teeth out is that we’ve evolved to a point where they are no longer necessary. Our Neanderthal ancestors had much larger jaws and ate rough grains, etc. as well as using their teeth as tools for various tasks like cracking nuts, so these extra molars were an advantage.
As the millenia have gone by our jaws have gotten smaller and smaller due to the era of convenience, and therefore less of a need to use them for above tasks. Many people today simply don’t have enough room in their mouths for wisdom teeth, which is why you see so many problems with some individuals when they do grow in. Perhaps one day we won’t even grow them any more. I’m 24 and my dentist says I’ll probably never get mine, as the roots aren’t even formed yet. My dad never got his, either.
If your dentist says you have enough room, and you don’t feel any pain, and they don’t come in crooked, there’s no reason you should need to have them out.
First, I don’t think the matter is entirely settled, but the theory that Neanderthals were our ancestors is considered doubtful these days.
Second, the “era of convenience” goes back a few thousand years at most, depending on what you consider convenient. Anatomically modern humans are much, much older than that. I would guess that our ancestors lived with small jaws and wisdom teeth for hundreds of millennia.
So why didn’t wisdom teeth die out during all those years, since they cause so many problems? My guess is that with no dental care, a person could reasonably expect to have lost a few teeth by the age of 18, leaving plenty of room for wisdom teeth even in a small jaw. They would act as replacements for the ones lost.