I was lucky — when I had to have my wisdom teeth taken out, I had a very easy time of it. Others (like Families.com’s own Heather Long) didn’t have an easy time at all.
Wisdom teeth are the third set of molars in the mouth — a pair on the top and a pair on the bottom. They earned the name “wisdom teeth” because they usually show up when a person is (supposedly) old enough to have earned some wisdom. If your wisdom teeth are healthy and there’s enough room in your mouth for an extra set of molars, you probably won’t have any problems.
However, wisdom tooth problems are relatively common:
- The teeth may break only partway through the gums, leaving a flap of tissue that can trap food. An infection can develop, thanks to food and bacteria caught underneath the flap.
- Wisdom teeth may grow in crooked or even facing the wrong way!
- If your jaw isn’t large enough to fit a third set of molars, they can become impacted (unable to break through the gums).
Problems with wisdom teeth often come with no symptoms. I experienced no discomfort when my wisdom teeth became impacted — my dentist spotted the problem on a dental x-ray during a routine exam. Some common symptoms of wisdom teeth problems can include pain or jaw stiffness near an impacted tooth, irritation from a tooth coming in at an improper angle, and crowding of other teeth.
Most problems with wisdom teeth develop between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Very few people over the age of thirty develop problems that require removal of the wisdom teeth!
The most common treatment for wisdom tooth problems is extraction. Many oral surgeons believe that it’s easier to remove a wisdom tooth in a person in the early twenties (or late teens) — the wisdom teeth’s roots are not fully developed at that point. By the late twenties, the jawbone is harder and healing an extraction can take longer.