Wisdom teeth

In My Humble Opinion
1

Do you still have yours? The dentist here suggested that my kid’s wisdom teeth should be pulled because there is a small cavity on one and it bodes ill for the future. Not because they are impounded or coming in crooked or crowding out other teeth, because there is a small cavity on one.

I asked if they had ever put sealants on those baby wisdom teeth at the same time the put sealants on all the other teeth, “Never!” said the hygienist “do they put sealants on wisdom teeth.”

I asked why won’t they just fill the cavity, they said the kid tends to gag easily. (i’m thinking so you can’t be bothered to deal with it?) so send her to an oral surgeon pronto. I call BS. They then said ok we’ll watch it. See you in 6 months. Still I ask why not freaking fill the cavity?

Also I have no dental insurance, it’s about $200 a visit for a cleaning and xrays. I consented for the kids to get xrays, watching that 1 cavity right?, NO they have no xrays of the wisdom teeth, need a pana vision something.

Is it a trend to just get rid of the wisdom teeth, even if they are not bothering anything?

Does medical insurance cover those type of extractions? But if it’s elective/cosmetic I would think not…

2

A trend? I thought it had been going on for decades.

I’m not totally sure, but I think it’s easy for dentists to come up with a medical justification, if need be. Mouth is too crowded, etc. Medicaid even covered mine, and I didn’t like having them (kept biting the inside of my mouth with them), but there was not really any pressing need to yank them.

3

There’s a very good chance they’ll need to get them out eventually. The sooner the better, I say. I had mine out at 23 and it was not a pleasant experience, in large part due to my age.

4

I am nearly 50 and still have all 4 wisdom teeth. I have room on my jaw, they never pushed around the other teeth, they all came in straight and fully erupted. No problems with them ever.

I have always had problems with dentists insisting they be pulled immediately, tales of doom and woe, etc.

My dad is in his 80’s, still has his, no problems there either.

Here is my opinion:

Yes, wisdom teeth CAN cause terrible problems for some people. In other people they cause no problems whatsoever. However, these days dentists have a kneejerk PULL THEM! PULL THEM! mindset. This extends to doing nothing regarding care and tending of them when for any other tooth they’d be arguing all sorts of measures to fix 'em and keep 'em.

More opinion:

If you want to justify keeping wisdom teeth the following must apply:

  1. They are not impacted/causing pain
  2. They erupt fully
  3. They come in reasonably straight
  4. They aren’t crowding/pushing around other teeth
  5. Very important - the person can and DOES get all the way back there to clean them

If there’s a cavity it raises the question of whether or not the kid (who I presume is either very late teens or early 20’s and arguably no longer “kid”) is actually doing #5. If the person isn’t keeping those teeth clean they will decay and cause problems later on. The later a wisdom tooth extraction occurs the more problematic it is, both because older folks don’t heal as well, and because… well, I’m not sure why but anecdotally people I’ve know getting them out in their 30’s or 40’s seem to have a much harder time of it than those who have it done in the early 20’s.

Here, again, is my opinion:

Tell the dentist that, sorry, you don’t have dental insurance. It will take time to save up the funds for ANY sort of extraction. In the meanwhile you want that “small cavity” dealt with to prevent more serious problems during that extended wait to acquire funds for an extraction. Argue for this firmly. Letting a cavity just sit there is waiting for trouble and is stupid/ridiculous.

Meanwhile, tell the kid that if he/she doesn’t do a better job on oral hygiene those teeth WILL have to come out. Because that’s the truth. He/she has until the funds for extraction are accumulated to improve and demonstrate an ability to care for all teeth in his/her mouth. If they kid can do that, he/she probably doesn’t need the extractions after all. If the kid doesn’t, you have the money to get the problem dealt with.

Finally - the above is entirely my opinion as I am in no way a dental professional. I know from personal experience wisdom teeth don’t “inevitably” cause problems, but they certainly can. Keeping them requires taking care of them properly.

5

I’m 47 and have all 4 of my wisdom teeth. And I’m glad I do.

6

The way I was raised, you assume that you’ll need to have them out, and having room in your jaw for them is an extraordinary circumstance.

I do think that if you can’t see all four erupting straight and in the correct place, you should pay for an x-ray to see where they are. None of my four, for example, would have erupted correctly and three of the four wouldn’t have erupted at all. The top two were wedged behind other teeth and were going to grow up into my sinuses, another was coming out the side of my gum, and the fourth was growing forward into my other molars. I was able to have them out before they grew roots, which made it way less unpleasant than it could have been.

7

In my mid-20’s I had my wisdom teeth extracted as they were impacted. I did them in separate visits; the first pair was fine but the 2nd was a bitch and hurt for a couple days. Then in my late 30’s I was at the dentist (a different dentist in a different state) and he took X-rays, and announced “you should have your wisdom teeth removed” and went on to explain why. I said, “but I already had them taken out.” He looked at me like I was soft in the head, and said, um, no. You still have all 4, and showed me the films.

Long story short, evidently I was a rare case with two sets. He said he had never seen it before and I’m not sure he really believed me; I looked for the contact info from my old dentist to have my records sent up but couldn’t track it down. For a while I even had two of the four teeth from the first extraction in my possession, because the dentist said they were the biggest teeth he’d ever seen, and put them in a little jar for me. I lost it in a subsequent move. I’m not imagining it, honest!

8

I’m almost 50, and had all four of mine until about 4 years ago. They never gave me a problem. Then the dentist showed me a huge cavity in one of them. Fixing the cavity would have been a bitch for both me and him. Also, I had been having some pain in another part of my mouth, and the dentist said it could very well be because of that tooth. So, I had it pulled. The extraction was not a big deal for me - it hurt, but only briefly, and the soreness that followed was tolerable. The dentist was right about the pain being related to the tooth - it went away after the extraction.

So, my opinion is, leave ‘em alone unless they’re causing a problem. The same dentist recently recommended pulling all of my kids’ wisdom teeth, and I politely but firmly said no.

9

I am apparently one of those who will never have wisdom teeth at all (a surprisingly large percentage of the population), which is a good thing because my mouth isn’t quite big enough for even 28 normal teeth; I had one of my front teeth extracted several years ago because it grew in behind the others (not an extra, I have one less tooth in my upper jaw in the front, with no gap) and got a cavity on the tooth in front of it and the dentist suggested having it extracted (the misplaced tooth, not the one with the cavity which was fixed).

10

I think 16 years old could be considered a kid. Though sometimes acts from 12 -35 yo!

What really set me off, was the offhanded way the recommendation was put forth by the hygienist. I never spoke to the dentist about it, it was an Oh by the way , this summer you should…So this summer at their 6 month, she was surprised to see those wisdom again. :dubious:

That’s when I called a chairside meeting and was told the 411.

I think I’ll push for the filling, get it schedlued see if they have objections…

11

It’s just a common recommendation for teenagers when the teeth have erupted.

Mine were covered by medical insurance because it was done in the hospital, all four at once, under a general. That was around 40 years ago, so probably not likely to be covered any more unless there’s a substantial medical justification. I don’t want to knock dentists about this procedure, but the conditions where wisdom teeth must be extracted (impaction, crooked roots, etc.) are better handled by an oral surgeon. If the teeth are straight, and there’s room for them, extraction isn’t necessary, although may become so later in life. If it is done before problems arise, a dentist should have no problem pulling it like any other tooth.

12

My wisdom teeth came in when I was in my 30’s. Just the top ones. One started to break apart in my early 40’s so I had it pulled. After hearing all the horror stories, I was prepared for the worst. It was no big deal, and I didn’t even get good drugs for it, just regular Tylenol was enough.

The second tooth started to crack a few years ago. It came out, too. Again, no big deal and it took longer waiting for the tooth to freeze than it did to have it extracted. Recovery was quick and I don’t particularly miss my wisdom teeth.

13

My first one was impacted, so it had to come out. The second one wasn’t, if I recall correctly, but I don’t have room for extra teeth, so it came out, too. The top ones came in okay, and I let them grow for a couple of years (the dentist said they would grow further down and come out easier since they had no other teeth to bite against) before I had them yanked, too (again, no room problem).

At this point, I’d get the wisdom tooth with the cavity yanked and leave the rest alone until they prove to be a problem.

14

I had mine pulled at age 34 and it was one of the more unpleasant experiences of my life. I had been told by a previous dentist that I might want to consider having them out about 10 years ago because they were misshapen. But due to a couple factors, mainly lack of insurance, I put it off.

By the time I got around to having them taken out one was impacted and one had a cavity. My dentist told me that due to my age my healing process was a lot slower. I’d vote for having it done sooner rather than later.

15

more wisdom teeth horror stories here, which i will not bore you with. it was not a good experience, and my sister fared no better when her turn came.

**tripolar **is right. take the kid to an oral surgeon for an evaluation, not a dentist. if he/she thinks they’re okay for now, leave them alone. the danger is the impaction/infection issue which is all too common for wisdoms later on in life. it makes things WAY worse to extract them at that point and it’s very hard on the patient.

16

I’m 55 and have all 4. When I was in my 20s, they hurt a lot, but I could not afford to have them pulled. It might as well have been $10 million, though I think it was only about $1000.

They quit hurting and I quite like them now.

17

I’m 34 and have 3 of my 4 wisdom teeth. The 4th was pulled because it abscessed a few years ago, probably because I couldn’t get my toothbrush back there properly. I take extra care now to brush behind the other 3, and have not had a problem. My dentist has said he may have to file the wisdom tooth that sits below the missing one down a bit, since without its mate bearing down on it when I close my jaw it’s popped up higher than the molars in its row. I’m waiting and seeing.

18

If they do need to come out, then yes, the earlier the better; the oral surgeon we too my son to last month said that once the roots are fully developed it gets harder. I had mine out at age 22ish and while it wasn’t fun, it wasn’t horrible either. Dweezil is 18 and hopefully it’ll even be easier for him. One thing that was interesting was the guy said that women have more troubles than men (especially with dry socket), it’s a hormonal thing. I was lucky enough to escape that bit of fun.

Re the OP: yeah, that’s a knee-jerk thing. If the tooth just needs a regular filling, then find a new dentist.

19

I still have mine. But my orthodontist had previously removed some bicuspids, so I had the extra room in my mouth for them.

20

Two of mine erupted and were taken out eventually due to decay, two of mine are impacted and are still there and have caused no problems. Medical insurance will sometimes pay for extractions, but usually not. It doesn’t hurt to check your benefit book or call them and ask.