well, I went to the dentist today..?

Question

and, I found out, that my bottom, wisdom teeth, need to be removed, because they haven't come out. Im 17 years old. I was wondering, if I dont take them out, what can happen? Im a little, worried, cos they, said, they where gonna cut open my gums, and remove them, and put me to sleep, or something..Does it hurt?...Any side effects, like, puffy face, or something?..Where do they cut?

Answer 1

when i was about 9, i was told they were going to have to remove my wisdom teeth.

i seemed to have more and more pain as the years went on, but did not have them removed (i did not have insurance, and simply did not have the money). one of my teeth started to shift, even though i had braces several years earlier to take care of any crooked teeth.

last month, i noticed some popping i was hearing inside my jaw, everytime i opened and closed my mouth and it seemed to be getting worse.

i scheduled an appointment with an oral surgen, because it was explained to me, if your wisdom teeth are under the gum line, the only way to get them out is with the expertise of an oral surgen.

the oral surgen looked at some Xrays i had taken last month, and informed me that the popping i was feeling in my jaw, although unfortunate, is experienced by about 50% of men and women today. it is a normal part of many peoples lives. it does cause a little discomfort, but it is because the cartalidge inside my jaw is moving slower than my jaw itself, resulting in a popping sound i can hear and feel. there is no current treatment or solution for my problem.

he then explained removing my wisdom teeth would not solve this problem at all, it is unrelated to the current problem i am describing, and i was incorrect in thinking that my wisdom teeth needing to be removed and the popping was related.


when i looked at my Xrays for myself, with my own eyes, i could see they were actually touching my 12 year molars, and the wisdom teeth themselves were at a 45 degree angle, compared to all my other teeth. it looked like the shifting of my teeth was being caused by these wisdom teeth.

the oral surgen told me that at todays universities, here in america, it is being argued that wisdom teeth themselves, do not exert enough pressure to cause the shifting of teeth.
it is possible i am gritting my teeth in my sleep, and this may be causing my teeth to shift, however, the oral surgen went on to tell me, at my age, of 26, my wisdom teeth have stopped moving alltogether. dispite them being right up against other teeth, i do not show any signs of unhealthy gums or cysts or anything else that would require medical attention.

some people in my condition choose to remove them, as they are below the gumline (and of no use inside my mouth), and cysts later in life are rarely a problem, but still merrit to worry for some, as an infection or a cyst is never fun to have to deal with.

every human being is different, so your dentist might be right in saying your 2 bottom wisdom teeth need to come out. and it is always good to get these removed early on in life, (such as before you hit your 20s) even if you have no sympotoms. this is because wisdom teeth roots mature and become more firmly achored tho the bone as you age. this makes removal more difficult. it also increases the risk of complications. And people heal more slowly as they grow older.

other options may be possible:
close follow up exams and Xrays would help check for signs of complications,
Medications can be sued to control some symptoms and can treat some infections.

but surgery involves an insision directly on the gum, over the tooth that is going to be removed, in an attempt to expose the nessacary amount of tooth and bone, in order to remove the tooth. in some cases, the surgen may be able to loosen the tooth and pull it out directly with forcepts (kind of like little tongs, but for dentists)
the tooth may need to be sectioned, (or cut in to pieces). some bone (inside your jaw) around the tooth may also need to be removed, as it is often not possible to preserve all of your jaw, if your wisdom tooth sits at a difficult angle.
after the tooth has been removed, any insision that was made is closed with sutures.
(incase you need to know more about sutures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suture )

generaly, if they really do need to be removed, and you dont get them removed, problems that can happen now, or in the future can include, pain, infection, gum disease and/or decay in the wisdom teeth, and nearby teeth.

Answer 2

I would worry about the insurance aspect and if you can pay for it later on. Right now, you are probably covered, under your folks. If you stay in school, most policies will cover you until you are 22 or 25. BUT, if you get out of school, and you don't have medical insurance and you really start to have a problem - you're screwed.

Maybe you should suck it up and do it. My son that did have them out when he was a Sophmore did it on a Friday Morning because he had to have oral surgery. He had some pain meds he didn't take, no puffy face, but some tenderness and a little inside mouth swelling. Everyone is different and every tooth is different. As for the cutting, it depends on the tooth. Usually, it's right on top of the gum line, but they could go in through the side of the gum if the tooth is twisted.

The sleep part is like a blood test - just a quick prick near your hand/wrist. And, it's a fast procedure. All of it.

I would call your Dentist. He knows. Not us.

Good luck.

Answer 3

I had my bottom wisdoms removed when I was 18 because they were pressing against my molars, even though they hadn't come up through the gums, and that pressure would have eventually killed my molars. I also had cysts forming. That's just my case. Your teeth are your teeth, your case may be different.

Just because you have wisdoms and they haven't come up doesn't mean they HAVE to come out. Your dentist didn't say that they're pressing against the other teeth? You're not feeling pain, the gums aren't swelling?

I was awake for my extractions. They numb you with a syringe, so you shouldn't feel pain, just a little pressure. They can prescribe a pain med for recovery (I was given Percoset but I never used them) and an antibiotic. At home, you're gonna wanna put something cold against your jaw, to keep swelling down.

They cut open the gums right behind your visible molars, that's all.

The holes are not completely sewn up, so there will be a little bleeding after the surgery~they'll put pieces of gauze on until that stops. The dentist should tell you what to do for recovery~how to keep the holes clean, how to prevent getting "dry socket", signs of infection, etc.

I had a unique experience~I bruise easily and badly, bleed a little more than most people, nerves on the left bottom of my jaw are routed differently than normal so I felt some pain and had to be re-numbed at a different spot, I swelled quite a bit. I couldn't move my jaw for days~difficult even to be spoonfed liquids. I had purple bruises on my jaw, looked like someone had grabbed me by the chin. I lost some weight and got an infection in one hole. But that kind of stuff rarely happens, it's just me.

It's NOT fun~surgery and recovery~but it is important to get those out IF they're troubling you.

Answer 4

The worst part of getting your wisdom teeth removed is the aftercare. And all you have to do there is lay in bed, eat a lot of pudding and get taken care of for a few days!

I was VERY nervous about getting mine taken out, but it was nothing! They put me out and I woke up about an hour later with absolutely no memory of what had happened and a hell of a lot of gauze in my mouth.

If it helps, take an iPod or CD play along with you. Sometimes, when they don't completely put you out, you can hear the sound of what they're doing. I'm guessing this wouldn't be pleasant, so I stuck with the iPod. I even got to wake up to some good music.

Good luck! If you're nervous, be sure to let the oral surgeon know. They will decide the best way to operate on you.

Answer 5

Oh yeah, all that! I had to have all 4 removed at once when I was 28. Mine were impacted (side-ways), which maybe yours are too. It's pretty scary, they do put you to "sleep", and it may take up to 4-5 weeks to heal with a big puffy face. It sucks, but if your in pain now, or it's gonna mess your teeth up in the future, AND if you can afford it, then go with the flow.
And hey, they'll give you pain killers, so you won't feel so bad.
Except for the puffy face, and eating soup and pudding for 2 weeks.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

There are 13 reasons why wisdom teeth HAVE to come out incluing decay, pain, fracture and cysts. If you are having no problems and they are causing no problems (NOT the same thing though!)...they should stay just where they are! The risks of removal outweigh the risks of taking them out.

There is NO evidence that wisdom teeth cause crowding further forward. About 25% of people have no wisdom teeth and they suffer just as much crowding; your teeth naturally drift forward as you get older...it used to be to fill the space caused by our teeth wearing away due to our rough diet.

PS - I'm a dentist if you hadn't guessed!

Answer 7

Mine didn't come out till I was 28, and now they're fine. If they're not causing you a problem and they're not impacting or deforming your other teeth, why is this necessary?

Sounds like the dentist getting some money towards his retirement fund to me. But then I'm a firm believer in the 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach.

Answer 8

You will get something like toothache if you don't have them out. Mine came through & then I had them out over a number of years. First one came out when I was 19 & the last one when I was 28. Your dentist should explain the procedure & after effects to you.

Answer 9

Dentists are above all else human. Even they make mistakes. It could be that he had a bad day. Maybe his wife is a ***** and he was dwelling on that! Maybe his elderly mother just died! Maybe he just found out that he has cancer! Give the poor guy a break. He took care of it at no charge! And fixed the other one also. Everybody makes mistakes. That is why a pencil has an eraser on one end!

Answer 10

If you leave your wisdom teeth in, they could push the others out of place. Getting them out isn't that bad. I was knocked out by a drug they put in my IV and only had minimal bruising and swelling for a day or two. They will cut in the gum above the area where the tooth is at and then extract it. You may have a stitch in those areas when you wake up and it will come out in about a week.

Answer 11

Depends on how your teeth are. Some times, they will over crowd your teeth, and you'll wind up having crooked-*** teeth when your like 30. Plus you'll have alot of neck and mouth pain if you havn't already.