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My 16y/o daughter just got back from the dentist. It was "recommended" that she have all four of her wisdom teeth extracted.
Is this absolutely necessary? I have heard rumors that wisdom teeth extraction is not always necessary and even deprives many people of their teeth.
Any input or references from anyone will be greatly appreciated.
Edward/VO,
It depends on whether when they grow in, are they going to deform the alignment of the other teeth? If so, extraction is the least expensive fix. Waiting will only increase the pain and cost involved.
Given that improved dental hygiene has reduced dentists income stream, you are right to be suspicious of the motives of the recommending dentist. But a second opinion will also cost. It's your, and her, call.
I had all of mine out under general anesthesia when I was in my early twenties. The recovery was fairly quick, three or four days. And I was lucky to have avoided the dreaded, "dry sockets"!
The basic issue is, when the wisdom teeth grow in, will they be "impacted", or not? Only an expert can venture an educated guess.
I've heard of people who had no problems with keeping their wisdom teeth, so clearly, it's not a simple matter of having them removed.
Good Luck!
We were told that the extraction of all 4 molars with one visit with a specialist will be approximately $2,000. I am not a happy man.
>:-(
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Posted in reply to the post by "Mad" Miles:
Try the UCSF Dental Clinic in San Francisco. They take about twice as long with everything, as it's done by students under supervision of faculty, but the rates are about half the going rate up here. I'm on a budget and have had excellent work done there. Yes, it's probably multiple trips, but if money is a factor I've found it to be worthwhile.
-Conrad
:2cents: Hi there, I'm Emily and I used to be a registered dental assistant. I feel you are right about some cases not needing wisdom teeth out. If your daughter's wisdom teeth start to come in..which they will try..and they are crooked and/or pushing her other teeth into each other because there is no room for them, then it is necessary to have them out. The uppers are usually easier to deal with than the lowers. Many lower wisdom teeth can be impacted and/or sideways below the bone. Did she have the appropriate xrays? Pano? or individual periapical xrays? I would get second opinion from an oral surgeon, bring any recent xrays..get a referral from dentist.. Good luck! Emily
PS if she does not get them out and they start to push in and there is no room or they are coming in crooked she will feel the pressure and even the pain of that pressure. Some cases turn into tooth aches and causing crowding of her other teeth.
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Posted in reply to the post by Valley Oak:
You're likely to get all sorts of opinions on this one....my 2¢ is as follows:
I was routinely encouraged to remove all my wisdom teeth as a teen, but being somewhat attached (so to speak) to my bones, I declined. They all came in, though not perfectly straight, without a problem. I think it is just one of those things dentist's offices recommend out of hand to everyone.
I read in a dental journal once that dentists are all aware that something like 75% of the procedures they recommend are not necessary. Dentist Bread and Butter.
It would be best to have a second opinion (as another poster noted) to see if it's obvious yet whether they are going to be impacted or not. Waiting until they start to grow in does not, as far as I understand, make it more difficult to remove them, unless it's clear there is an impaction.
I finally had one wisdom tooth removed decades later, fairly recently, and it was a breeze, and only cost about $250 if I recall, so get a second opinion on the price, too. That sounds way high unless the teeth are all impacted in some crazy way and major surgery is involved. A simple extraction is usually very quick and relative to most dental procedures, inexpensive.
The main negative to keeping them I can think of is that in my small mouth, the wisdom teeth all being there caused a certain degree of malocclusion, but it doesn't really present a problem as far as I can tell.
The main positives to keeping them are avoiding anesthesia and trauma to the tissues, keeping bones in your head that belong there, and retaining allies of the immune system, which according to some, teeth play a part in.