As your teenage ages, his or her wisdom will start coming in. Some may come in crooked. Some may come in impacted. Most of the time, all four wisdom teeth come in just fine (although nine out of 10 people have at least one wisdom tooth that comes in slightly impacted).
If your teen’s teeth come in crooked and/or impacted, your dentist may recommend that you have your teen’s wisdom teeth pulled (extracted). The dentist’s reasoning probably is this: it’s far easier to pull wisdom teeth, with a reduced risk of complications, when a person is younger (under 25). The wisdom teeth roots haven’t formed completely yet, making them easier to extract.
Makes sense, no, especially if your teen’s wisdom teeth are coming in crooked, are impacted (there’s not enough room for them to emerge fully) or are showing some other problems? (By the way, 9 out 10 people have at least one impacted wisdom tooth.)
But is it really wise to pull the wisdom teeth?
Read below for some information to help you decide.
WebMD.com reported in 2005 on a study conducted in the Netherlands that found that while many teens have their wisdom teeth pulled, “there’s no evidence this painful procedure prevents future trouble.”
The study found that if the teens’ wisdom teeth were impacted but “not causing any trouble,” there was “no evidence that removing [the teeth] helps or hurts future health.”
But, the study added (according to the WebMD article), “some evidence that removing teens’ impacted wisdom teeth ‘to reduce or prevent late incisor crowding cannot be justified.’”
The article went on to say that according to two dentists interviewed for the article, “troublesome” wisdom teeth should be removed, but that “perfectly healthy teeth” should stay put.
If your teen’s wisdom teeth are coming in healthy and straight, it may be perfectly OK to not pull them from her mouth.
Wisdom teeth extraction is a serious surgical procedure, the dentists added, and should only be done when there’s a real medical reason to do it.
What is a real medical reason?
Your teen’s wisdom tooth probably should be pulled if it’s impacted AND lying horizontally. Another wisdom tooth that should be pulled is one that comes up from the underlying bone of the jaw but comes up only part of the way through the skin.
If a tooth is leaning sideways (isn’t completely horizontal as described above), you and your teen’s dentist will have a bit of a chat because there may be chance the wisdom tooth could rub against its neighbor tooth over time, causing crowding in your teen’s front teeth.
If you do decide to remove your teen’s wisdom teeth, rest assured that they aren’t necessary at all to your child’s health as he or she grows older.
Bottom line, if your teen’s wisdom teeth are otherwise healthy, so long as your child keeps a good eye on them, has regular dental checkups, practices good oral hygiene daily, it may be OK to keep them.
Talk to your dentist before deciding.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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