Straight Teeth in Less Time
Why Should Wisdom Teeth Be Extracted?
Lois Murray
In the past, patients would often visit a dentist when they wanted teeth extracted. Preventive dental care or extensive efforts to save teeth from being extracted were not common. Now dentists will attempt to dissuade patients from having dental extractions performed. There are many ways to save teeth that were previously beyond hope.
Ironically, dentists actually suggest and actively promote extractions of wisdom teeth without obvious and immediate dental issues. Wisdom teeth are so named because they appear in the mouth in early adulthood, when one attains wisdom.
Wisdom teeth are actually extra molars that were needed by early humans who subsisted on abrasive food that required extra chewing and actually caused teeth to be worn away. Although the diet of humans changed, the four extra teeth remain.
What's wrong with having extra teeth?
Overcrowding in the mouth causes teeth to grow too close together, which inhibits proper dental hygiene and promotes the growth of bacteria between teeth. When wisdom teeth appear, they often don't have room to grow and may emerge on an angle or not at all. If they are still submerged under the gum, they are said to be "impacted". An impacted tooth can cause gum and bone problems, infection, or the formation of a cyst.
If a wisdom tooth cannot break through the gum completely, the gum may become swollen and painful and prone to gum disease and infection. Since wisdom teeth are located in the back of the mouth, proper cleaning is often difficult, resulting in tooth decay and possibly gum disease.
Should you get your wisdom teeth extracted without immediate dental problems?
Wisdom teeth removal is not as simple as regular dental extractions. Oral surgeons (such as William J Guthrie DDS PC) must perform the extractions using sedation, and recovery time is greater. If you aren't having problems, you should consider the following:
- Insurance may not cover speculative extractions. If there is no immediate dental issue, insurance companies will be reluctant to pay for an expensive procedure.
- You may not ever have a problem with your wisdom teeth.
- Wisdom teeth extractions carry the risk of infection, although it is the same risk as any other surgery. Of course, most surgery is not performed for medical issues that may occur in the future.
Or course, any type of surgical procedure is less risky for a young and healthy adult. If you believe that extraction of your wisdom teeth will help you to keep your remaining teeth healthy, then it may be worth the risk.
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I had braces when I was a kid. Back then, you had to wear those metal wires and rubber bands for what seemed like forever. When I saw that my child’s teeth were going to be crooked like mine, I was dreading the years of braces and orthodontist appointments and limited diets that I saw stretching ahead of us. I was pleased to find out that braces today are very different from braces when I was a kid. They don’t need to be worn for nearly as long, and they aren’t as intrusive, either. My daughter got braces that can barely be seen, and she can remove them when she eats, so she doesn’t have to give up her favorite foods. I was so impressed that I started a blog to talk about modern day tooth straightening techniques. Braces have come a long way.