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About
Your Wisdom Teeth |
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What Are Wisdom Teeth?
Your third molars (most commonly known as Wisdom Teeth) are the last teeth
to erupt into your mouth. Wisdom teeth usually erupt during your late teens or early
twenties. Often they are impacted. This means that they are unable to
get through the dense bone of the jaw and overlying gum tissue, many times due to limited
space in your mouth. This lack of space seems to be because modern man has a smaller jaw than
people from ancient times. Nine out of ten people have at least one wisdom
tooth that remains underneath the gum due to lack of space in the
mouth.
Why Do I Have Wisdom Teeth?
Early humans had a tough abrasive diet that included
hulls from coarse grain and bits of stone from the processing techniques that they
used. Needless to say, early humans needed more teeth and more chewing power to
sustain themselves.
Why
Should I Remove My Wisdom Teeth?
As you
approach your late teens your jawbone has grown to nearly its adult size. Often the
adult size is still not large enough to accommodate the developing wisdom teeth. In
this case, your teeth become trapped in the bone and grow wherever they can. As the
tooth grows, it may remain completely covered by bone or may partially break through the
gum exposing the crown (or chewing surface) of the tooth. As the tooth continues to
develop, so do the roots associated with the tooth. The tooth's roots hold the
tooth in place. They may become misshapen or extend dangerously close to the nerve
located in the jaw or to a sinus cavity.
If your wisdom teeth erupt
through the gum or partially erupt, they are often hard to keep clean. This can put
you at a high risk of decay and infection. Also you may be unaware that your wisdom
teeth are pushing on adjacent teeth. This pressure may cause the teeth to
shift.
You may
not even know that you have wisdom teeth if they are impacted. The onset of sudden
pain may be caused by an impacted wisdom tooth or may indicate infection of surrounding
gum tissue and bone, or pressure on an adjacent tooth. Additionally, impacted teeth
can develop cysts or tumors that can become enlarged over time and destroy the jaw bone
and adjacent teeth. Like the wisdom teeth they are associated with, you may have no
symptoms to indicate their presence. Usually, these cysts or tumors can be
identified on a panorex x-ray.
When
Should I Have My Wisdom Teeth Evaluated?
It is usually recommended that a panorex x-ray
is taken by your dentist, orthodontist or oral and maxillofacial
surgeon before age 16 to 17
to evaluate for possible impacted wisdom teeth and predict if there may be
present or future problems associated with the wisdom teeth.
Studies have shown that early evaluation and treatment results
in a superior outcome for the patient by decreasing the difficulty of
the extractions and lowering the possible risks associated with
the surgery.
