In my late 40’s and am probably gonna get them removed this year – they are starting to cause some “crowding” issues. I’m slightly lacking in wisdom (only 3 of those wise ol’ tusks).
Luckily this is not news to my dentist. She only pulled one of my wisdom teeth when it developed a cavity. The rest are still there. I also still have my tonsils and appendix.
Unfortunately I’ve lost a few other body parts along the way, but, hey, at a certain point life stops giving and starts taking away.
Well that explains it
This could also be said of nearly other AMA-recommended body modification procedure that nature didn’t intend. Circumcision comes to mind.
We did evolve to have wisdom teeth for long enough for us to make babies and rear them to independence, after all.
Mine were pointed forward and started coming in. You could see the position of my other teeth change daily. Those freaks had to come out.
I also only grew three! I had one pulled due to a gum infection. I would have taken two out, but of course this infection happened in the one year of my life that I didn’t have health insurance, and was paying out of pocket (per tooth…). They others haven’t caused any problems so far.
if they’re impacted but aren’t causing any problems
I never met anyone with impacted wisdom teeth that weren’t causing any problems. Does that ever happen in real life? Mine caused excruciating, unceasing pain and intermittent bleeding when they impacted.
I tried to find a dentist who would pull the molars they were impacting and let the wisdom teeth grow in, like the Soviets used to do, but American dentists flat out refused. So now I have no wisdom teeth, and the molars that were impacted shattered long ago and I had to get expensive crowns 
Meanwhile the Russkis still have their wisdom teeth, but no back molars, and also no crowns or 1K+ dentistry bills.
But if I hadn’t had my wisdom teeth removed, I wouldn’t have been in a clinical trial for a general anesthetic that was supposed to stop my overactive gag reflex but wound up making it worse.
All I remember is waking up with my mom dragging me into the house, and then waking up about 6 hours after that with all my wisdom teeth still intact because they couldn’t do anything. Apparently though I had been speaking at length about Cincinnati, which is interesting because I had never been there.
The process of getting them removed required 3 more visits to the oral surgeon and approximately 4 months overall and a lot of ice bags.
Mine are impacted, still below the gum but with just enough clearance from the tooth in front for me to feel it. They haven’t caused any severe problems (yet) but for years I did feel them shifting my teeth; my bottom two front teeth are turned inwards, facing eachother, because of it. Nothing non-cosmetic, though.
My mom still has hers. I still have mine. Let’s keep it that way.
Always wondered about that – seems like a practical solution.
Well, or maybe we evolved to slow down the development of our wisdom teeth so they kill us just after our last offspring are independent…
I remember being told that getting wisdom teeth pulled as a teenager is a lot easier than getting it done later. Those teeth grow down into the jaw, every year, for decades. I mean they have Roots. Means both the tooth is harder to get out and the jaw is weaker after they are pulled (until the bone fills in). Certainly seemed like a much bigger deal when adults had it done than when teens had it done. So that might be part of why they have been aggressive about doing it to youths. Could also be that late extractions are less problematic now than in the past (better doctors, gear, etc), so that balance has tipped the other way… or something.
Ditto. My other teeth were getting jammed closer and closer together: I couldn’t floss, and they were packed in so tightly it was starting to hurt. Getting the wisdom teeth out was the only solution.
I only had two, but they never particularly bothered me. The dentist only removed them once he discovered they were riddled with cavities.
I had EIGHT wisdom teeth – two on either side on top and bottom – and the front ones were coming in at an angle, the back ones entirely sideways, and all of my other teeth were being crowded and smashed together. It hurt constantly. Getting them removed at 16 was definitely necessary.
I had to get stitches at the corners of my mouth and my chest had a big bruise right in the middle afterwards. I couldn’t figure that last part out until I realized that’s probably where the dentist’s knee went.
Me three. I was only 14 when they started to cause problems, but it was painful. It made me feel really bad for babies cutting a whole bunch of teeth, that shit hurts. Plus pushing all the other teeth around, it sucked.
I’m guessing they also explained their refusal?
One possible reason – a high risk of complications:
Actually there is a procedure called Second Molar Replacement that not many dentists are familiar with (but many functional orthodontists are) that involves extraction of the second molars to allow the wisdom teeth more room to develop normally. The only drawback is the wisdom tooth will come through straight only 80% of the time and orthodontics may be needed to get it properly lined up if it comes through crooked. The timing to do this properly is critical however. Studies have shown that when the second molar is removed at the proper time, it will give the developing wisdom tooth enough room to develop normally into a normal size tooth with normal straight roots. It has also been shown that with the second molars gone, lower anterior crowding is eliminated. When the wisdom tooth comes through, it will move up to where the second molar used to be and 80% of the time you will not be able to tell that a second molar had been extracted and the tooth in its place is actually a wisdom tooth. I know this from actual clinical experience.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130129135819AAH9s3b
(From a quick search; I imagine some better sources are out there.)
I still have mine and actually i have plenty of room, i need braces probably despite the fact that i had braces when i was in high school (i stopped wearing them and fucked everything up again). But thus far i haven’t had any issues with my wisdom teeth thankfully
i had mine removed after they became impacted. took 30 minutes tops, they popped out like weak bottle caps. i ate a spicy curry that night and took the pain pills recreationally.
yeah, i’m badass.
