Should I have ALL of my wisdom teeth pulled?!


Question: Should I have ALL of my wisdom teeth pulled?
My lower left wisdom tooth has to go because it's partially erupted and now it has an unpleasant odor. The tooth on the bottom right is going to remain there because the 2nd molar before it was removed, so it's not affecting me and it's easy to wash. However, the dentist suggested I have my 2 upper wisdom teeth removed even though they've normally errupted and aren't hurting me, nor do they have cavities. She claims I should have them removed because they will become super errupted.

Is it really necesary? As I had mentioned, one of my wisdom teeth is going to stay, infact, it shifted down a bit and the wisdom tooth above it is, according to her, lower than it should be and the same will happen on the other side... the thing is, this tooth has been the same way for like 5 years since it fully grew out.

So, should I get them all removed or leave them alone until they look like a problem?

Answers:

I don't think you should remove them until they're a problem. Dentists or oral surgeons say you should remove them because they can cause problems later, but all teeth can. They may be MORE likely to cause problems than other teeth, but I'm a dental receptionist and there are several 50+ yr old people that come in who either still have healthy wisdom teeth (not necessarily all of them), or are just now having problems. Even if the teeth are more troublesome to remove than they would have been when the patients were teens or young adults, they had them for 30+ years!! I don't think anyone can say that's not worth it. You're going to have problems with some of your teeth as you get older, so the more you keep, the better.
All four of my wisdom teeth came out well (the top ones are slightly off to the sides, but they do not cause any problems). One of the bottom ones was not fully erupted, so my dentist used that as one of the reasons I should have all of them removed, but I refused and this was when I was 18 and I am now 19 and it's fully erupted.

I can't stand greedy dentists



i think u should better remove them before they 'cause a problem to u, then it would just be harder to remove them, for me i've removed them all!! (the 4 of them) since my teeth crowded in my mouth they caused me a bad headache and i didn't know that until i extracted them all, and 2 of them were removed by surgery!! :) but i feel much better now, my advice it remove them now..good luck



i got mine all done at once. i'd recommend just getting it over with and not have to worry about doing it again later.. dontcha think?
a lot of people eventually have to get them all taken out



Its best to get them all out at once. it would be more cost effective than taking the chance later on if you develop a problem then you have paid twice.



Going to the dentist or oral surgeon is a lot like taking your car to the mechanic:
You need to do it every now and then and you'd best do whatever they tell you, even if you're not sure how necessary the services will be.
Personally, I had my wisdom teeth removed on two separate occasions, two years apart, as the ones on he right side of my mouth were ready to go, while the ones on the left side were not. That said, the oral surgeon could tell by how they were coming in, that they would need to be removed eventually, but he did not want to complicate the procedure if it was not necessary to do so. So, one side went first, then the other.
So, I guess you have to trust your oral surgeon on this. If he or she says you should have some of the wisdom teeth pulled and wait on the others, then that's what you should do. Remember, doctors like to get paid just like everyone else does. But, they also don't want to put themselves in a position where they make a simple extraction more difficult by pulling teeth that are not ready to go. That can open the door to a host of problems for you and them, should anything go wrong.
Unfortunately, you are at the mercy of a professional. Maybe you can go without having the teeth pulled; many people do. But, should you ever suffer, at some point down the road, for having not had it done, then you will regret it, and the oral surgeon will try and safeguard against this possibility, and suggest that all of the teeth at some point come out.
In any event, waiting until they become a problem will only mean that you are in pain, when you might not have had to be. So, if the surgeon wants to pull, whether all at once, or on separate visits, I say just pull and do what the trained professional says.




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