Wisdom teeth are third molars, found far back in the mouth.
Wisdom teeth can become impacted, or stuck beneath the bone or gum. In some people, impaction may cause no symptoms. In other people, impaction may cause discomfort or pain.
Some dentists claim that impaction works its mischief surreptitiously, causing irreversible damage before the dentist or patient notices anything wrong - unless the impacted teeth are pulled first. Many dentists extract all impacted wisdom teeth, regardless of whether they're causing any problems.
Others go further, removing any wisdom teeth during adolescence that look as if they might become impacted. Some dentists even pull wisdom teeth that have grown in normally to ease crowding of the other teeth.
Overall, oral surgeons yank more than two million wisdom teeth each year in the U.S., and general dentists probably pull far more than that. But removing an impacted wisdom tooth is no ordinary extraction, since the dentist or surgeon has to slice into the gum or bone, which may make you quite uncomfortable for several days, and it can cause persistent pain, infection, and even permanent numbness of the lip or tongue.
One study found that more than 10 percent of wisdom-tooth extractions caused complications - mainly painful inflammation of the tooth socket, infection, persistent bleeding, and numbness in the lip or tongue. Many of those problems persisted for weeks or months, and a few cases of numbness appeared to be permanent.
Other reports have shown that extraction may damage the gum and bone supporting the second molar. Based on the results of several studies and the opinion of a panel of experts, the researchers in one study concluded that doing nothing until problems developed would typically cause half as much discomfort and disability as extracting all impacted teeth, and only a fraction as much distress as pulling all wisdom teeth in adolescence.
In general, people should be sure their dentist takes periodic X-rays of any impacted teeth in order to spot trouble early. If your dentist recommends extracting a symptom-free tooth - or recommends extraction for your teenager - ask him or her to show you the problem (not just the impaction itself) on the X-rays. If you're not sure what they show, get a second opinion from a dentist who doesn't specialize in surgery.
At what age do wisdom teeth first appear?
What is your opinion about extracting wisdom teeth?
Is there anything that can be done to prevent problems with my wisdom teeth?
If extraction is necessary, what is the procedure?
How long does the procedure take?
Will pain medication be prescribed? If so, which one? How effective is the medication?
How long is the recuperation time?
