Many people experience problems with their wisdom teeth that cause severe pain, including infection (pericornitis), impaction and damage or shifting of adjacent teeth.
Removal is the only solution. There are also many people who don't experience any issues with their wisdom teeth, and still think they should have their wisdom teeth removed. If your wisdom teeth are not causing you any discomfort you may want to consider keeping them.
Keeping Your Teeth in Alignment
Most people who have issues with impacted wisdom teeth are having these issues because there simply is not enough room in their mouths to accommodate 32 teeth. If your wisdom teeth do come in fully without any trouble, your jaw has the space for them. Removing them could cause your adjacent teeth to be out of alignment.Replacing Missing Back Teeth
Missing teeth usually need to be replaced. If you have lost a tooth in the back of your mouth, or have one that is in need of being extracted, an existing wisdom tooth could actually take its place. This can also help to slow, or even prevent, the bone loss that might have occurred otherwise.Preventing Potential Infections
If your wisdom teeth are impacted and causing you pain, they should be removed. However, if they come in normally, or aren't causing you any pain despite not coming in, why would you put yourself through oral surgery?Having your wisdom teeth requires time to heal, and, while rare, you run the risk of infection or other complications from the procedure. If your wisdom teeth are impacted, but asymptomatic, have them evaluated by your dentist to determine if the surgery is really needed; you could save yourself from the unnecessary pain of the procedure and recovery.
Wisdom teeth do not always need to be removed. Contact our office about the condition of yours to find out if you can benefit from keeping them.
