Wisdom Teeth: Have Them Pulled or Let Them Stay?

Access Dental Care in Reno wants you to know that sometimes it is okay to keep your wisdom teeth. You will need to pay attention though because some wisdom teeth to present problems and when the problems arise, you need to be prepared to let your dentist know.

Since you were a teen and for many decades before that, having your wisdom teeth removed seemed like a simply passage into adulthood. Everyone in high school dreaded the thought of it and your parents just simply chuckled because they knew what you were in for. Hey, everyone had gone through it at some point in time, so you should too, right?

Many people think that wisdom teeth are useless and that they serve no purpose in your mouth. After all, it is not like once they grow in you simply are as knowledgeable as a wise old owl. Although, it would be pretty awesome if there were the case.

Your wisdom teeth are your third molars and often referred to them as such at the dental office and at Access Dental Care in Reno. Often times, wisdom teeth do not grow in properly and they become impacted or they are misaligned and crowded in your mouth.

If wisdom teeth grew into your mouth when you were younger, it is likely that they would never have to be removed, but as our growth goes, they come in anywhere between 17 and 25 and your mouth is already done growing by this time.

The Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry at the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts says that oral surgeons would simply remove wisdom teeth because it was much better to take the safe approach than to be sorry later on down the road.

While the norm was to have the teeth removed, the approach is much different in today’s day and time. In fact, most oral surgeons now are convinced and also recommend that you keep your wisdom teeth unless they begin to display issues or problems within your mouth.

Now, this does mean that you will need to have x-rays and exams performed on a normal basis to ensure that your wisdom teeth remain healthy and do not form issues later on. If a problem is caught early on, it can be fixed or the tooth can be extracted to prevent further issues.

On the other hand, some oral surgeons believe that it is much safer to simply keep healthy wisdom teeth than to even put the patient under anesthesia or have them go through the surgical procedure.

Jay Friedman, who is a California dentist, says that there is some type of justification to remove about 30% of wisdom teeth, but that over 10 million are removed each year and there is no justification for this and it is simply a health hazard for the public.

The reason why surgery should not be relied upon is because surgeries are known to cause nerve damage and there is the off chance that an infection may occur, which would present bigger problems.

In fact, the American Public Health Association adopted and implemented a new policy that rejects the idea of simply removing wisdom teeth as a preventative measure. However, the policy did not hold up because there was not enough data to support that the preventative measures are harmful. Specifically, the data showed that the teeth were symptom free, but the data could NOT show that the teeth were disease free.

Wisdom teeth are tricky and they must be dealt with accordingly. While a wisdom tooth may not present a problem immediately, about two-thirds of them end up having some type of issue in the long run and must be removed.

For a wisdom tooth to NOT be extracted, it must be:

• Pain free
• Fully erupted
• Functional within the mouth
• Cavity free
• Within healthy gun tissue
• Disease free

The biggest problem that arises is that not all teeth in a patient are healthy. While a wisdom tooth may be disease free, only about 10 percent of patients actually have a full mouth of healthy teeth. There is no good or sufficient evidence to decide whether or not it is best to remove or keep wisdom teeth and the situation is handled on a case-by-case basis.

Above, we mentioned that there are some risks that come along with surgery. In fact, about one in 100 patients have difficult to control bleeding, one in every 20 will develop some type of infection, and about one in 100 loses some feeling within their tongue and/or lips.

What’s the Real Issue Behind Keeping Wisdom Teeth?

While it has been hard to prove whether the teeth should be kept or extracted, it is important to note that if the wisdom teeth are not removed early on, surgery becomes much more difficult later on down the road. The surgery is more expensive because you need extensive x-rays, planning, and additional exams.

The problem? Who knows if the tooth will stay healthy. If it is decided that a patient should keep a wisdom tooth because it is disease free, there is no telling if the tooth will remain this way three years or five years down the road.

Since it is so unpredictable, it is best to leave the teeth alone and if they present a problem, remove them at that point.

If you do keep your wisdom teeth, you should pay attention to the tooth and the gums around it to watch for any issues that may arise. You want to look for bleeding around the tooth or bleeding from the gums. You also want to note any sensitivity and look for swelling as these can be signs that there is a problem.

When gum disease is present, a wisdom tooth should always be extracted. Even if the tooth is healthy, but gum disease exists, the tooth should be removed.

As you can see, it is truly unknown as to whether or not a wisdom tooth should be removed, but it is recommended that the tooth is in any case where there may be an issue with the tooth or when the gums are diseased.

If you have a wisdom tooth growing in, contact the team at Access Dental Care in Reno today. We provide the best wisdom tooth care and extractions in Reno, NV and want you to be able to trust that we have your best interests in mind.