Do I (or my Children) Have to get Wisdom Teeth Removed?
Not everyone has to get their wisdom teeth removed; but more likely than not you will need to remove them. Oftentimes there isn’t enough space in your mouth for your wisdom teeth to grow. In order for them to assume a healthy place in your mouth they need to grow not only in the right position, but also straight. If your wisdom teeth are either displaced or misaligned significant health problems can arise. For instance, a wisdom tooth unable to erupt into the mouth can cause significant damage and infection to the tooth adjacent.
Moreover, even if a tooth did erupt into the mouth, there are a lot of placement complications that could affect your health later. Unfortunately, significant pain occurring from improper or unfitting wisdom teeth may not occur until age 40 or above. At this point the surgeries available to family dentistry to remove wisdom teeth are usually more invasive and leave larger room for surgical complications. Like a lot of dental health issues, serious health complications only happen during much later stages, letting the preceding ones seem ‘bearable’ or ‘manageable.’
It is always a big mistake to wait until serious health complications occur. A general rule of thumb in family dentistry is the earlier you treat a dental or oral health issue, the less invasive and more effective the procedure. Deciding whether getting your wisdom teeth removed is right for you is easy: it simply takes a panoramic x-ray of your jaws to determine. Make sure to receive these x-rays from your dentist and follow their advice.