I did not have any wisdom teeth until I was 23. Now 28 and never had any problems with them so far. They’re not at all impacted. They are neat with the rest of my teeth and I can bite and eat with them with no problems. My siblings are the same. We all have all 32 teeth. Recently my Dad had his first ever tooth extraction (not a wisdom tooth) and he is 65.
Re #76
Such a study seems easy at first glance, but it would take decades if we start with currently age 17-25 year old people.
Alternatively, a retrospective study could be done with people who are older. But we still might not know whether someone at age 40 will have trouble with an impacted wisdom tooth in the future.
However, any such study needs to have neutral dentists evaluate each tooth at age 17-25 (or dental records from that age in a retrospective study) to be sure of comparing similar situations.
Re #80
Some people do have jaws large enough for their wisdom teeth to come in fully functional with no trouble, the best situation, since no treatment is necessary.
My daughter’s roots are 70-80% developed. I don’t want to remove the WT now because the appointment would be 6 days before returning to school. Although I am sure she would be fine, I am not comfortable sending her 11 hours away 6 days after having oral surgery. I suspect there is a good chance that her roots will be almost fully developed by the time she comes home in May. I feel like we missed the boat on pulling her teeth even though she is only 18. I could revisit this in May but that would mean repeating all the x-rays which I would rather not do if it’s not necessary (teeth not bothering her). We will show the x-rays to my BIL but he is not one to pull teeth. He says he has plenty of patients in their 40’s and 50’s who have impacted WT that have not erupted and they are fine (my D has two).
Right now I am leaning towards leaving them in (for now) even though I know that today, most young adults get them pulled. From what I understand, there is a chance that they could straighten out if they start to erupt, or they can grow away from the nerve and be less risky to pull (in terms of nerve damage).
Thanks for discussing this with me, and a special thanks to dentmom4 who has been very helpful.
2girls, we had son’s removed within the week he was to start college. It worked out well
Thanks. That’s what the OS said but the anxiety ridden part of me wonders…
When your child gets wisdom teeth removed, if there will be only one person available to drive and help the patient, make every effort to get the necessary prescriptions from the oral surgeon ahead of time and fill them before the day of the surgery. Also, get the handout that explains the after-surgery care in advance (so that you can make sure to have all the necessary supplies on hand).
The patient is likely to be sent home while still groggy. You don’t want to have to take someone in that condition into a pharmacy with you and wait together to get the medicines, and you won’t feel comfortable leaving the person alone at home or in the car while you go to the pharmacy, either. The third option: waiting until the grogginess wears off before going to the pharmacy, is the worst of all because the local anesthetic may be wearing off by then, and the patient may urgently need the pain medicine you haven’t picked up yet.
Ideally, it would be great to have two people available – one to go to the pharmacy and the other to take the patient home – but if you don’t have that luxury, insist on getting those prescriptions and instructions in advance.
Another hint: Ask whether it would be acceptable for the patient to switch from the prescribed pain medicine to ibuprofen at some point and how much ibuprofen the patient can take. For some people, a high (prescription-level) dose of ibuprofen works better than a narcotic because it doesn’t cause drowsiness. If you’re not drowsy, you can get involved in activities, and the activities serve as a distraction from the remaining pain. But the surgeon may not want the patient to use ibuprofen right away because it can promote bleeding and also may not be strong enough for the first day.
I had my wisdom teeth removed at 25. I lived alone. I did get supplies ahead of time like ice packs. And asked for RX to ge sent to oral surgeons office so I could take home with me. My parents offered for me to go home. That was not necessary.
I was recently told of a new technique to orthodontically move the WT away from the nerve so as to reduce the possibility of permanent nerve damage to those individuals who may be at risk. The orthodontist cuts the gum and attaches a bracket to the WT in order to straighten it. Once it is standing upright it is easier to remove without risking damage to the nerve.
Three dentists ( including one here) and the oral surgeon told me it’s ok to remove her teeth on a Monday and send her back to school ( an airplane school) on Sunday. I believe it is ok but the mother in me is worried about her being uncomfortable and complaining, which will worry me. I am likely not removing them now. If they need to be removed one day ( and I was told they may never need to be removed. Her case can go either way) then if there is a high risk of nerve damage, we may be able to go the orthodontic route.
DS2 just had his out Monday. Went well, though I am surprised by the amount of swelling. Don’t know why, as I looked like a chipmunk. Just funny to see him looking this way. He’s doing lots of computer work and watching of movies. We’re not letting him out of the house, though I’m sure he thinks he’d be fine. He’s taken the ibuprofen but not the painkillers.
twogirls, you sound very conflicted. You have good and bad reasons for doing it now/waiting.
My older daughter had hers removed 2 years ago, but I was not conflicted because I knew she would be home for awhile.
I am conflicted this time only because she is going back to school six days later. I know it is ok, but there is always the slightest risk that something will happen and she will complain about it from 11 hours away, stressing me out big time. Of course she can always go to an oral surgeon down there (the dental school is right across from her dorm) so I am likely worrying for nothing.
Sorry if I keep repeating myself.
Acetaminophen is usually preferred over NSAIDs like ibuprofen and aspirin for this purpose due to the bleeding issue, but be very careful to avoid overdosing due to the risk of liver damage. Note that prescription opioid narcotics are often mixed with acetaminophen, so if those are used, be sure to count them when checking the acetaminophen limit.
But, really, my own experience is that pain relief drugs are not necessary and that cold packs are sufficient. Opioid narcotics are overkill, and the tendency to prescribe them probably increases the supply that eventually gets into the hands of abusers. Their other effects like digestive distress, drowsiness, etc. can also be unpleasant (heard enough about them that I did not bother filling the prescription for the narcotics).
My kids’ oral surgeon told us to wait at least 24 hours before using ibuprofen because bleeding is a problem mostly in the first day. He also allowed a full prescription dose of ibuprofen – which is twice the over-the-counter dose–and that was plenty. Tylenol wouldn’t have been enough until a couple of days later.
One of my colleagues at work has a kid who recently had his wisdom teeth removed. The parents refused to fill the prescription for the narcotic pain reliever because they didn’t want their kid taking a narcotic. The kid spent the entire first night after the surgery wide awake and crying because of the severe pain.
Sometimes it’s possible to be too concerned about drug abuse, especially with a drug that someone is likely to take only for a day or two.
My 24 year old daughter had hers out on Monday and is doing really well. Very little swelling and only on one side. The pain has been quite manageable with prescription strength Motrin although he did also prescribe Vicodin if needed. She was diligent with the frozen pea ice packs.
My older daughter was swollen for about 4-5 days and was in a lot of pain for about 2 days. We filled her pain medication (Vicodin) and let her use it.
GRITS80 was your daughter told that her roots were very close to the nerve?
One other thing to consider: for a woman of child bearing age, the time within her cycle can make a difference in healing and risk of complications, according to some research. You may want to search around for this.
twogirls – No, I didn’t ask about the nerves. Since she’s 24 and lives in Manhattan, she handled everything leading up to surgery day. Her doctor required that someone bring her to the office and stay throughout so I went into the city for just the day. I was impressed by the email the doctor sent on Sunday before the surgery. He outlined everything she would need to have on hand and he called all the prescriptions into the pharmacy ahead of time. He was very accessible via text and even asked us to text him as soon as we got back to her apartment so he’d know she was home safely.
I had my consult today. Oral surgeon says it will take less than 20 minutes to pull my red remaining wisdom teeth. Local anesthetic and nitrous oxide. I can even drive myself if I want to…but I probably won’t!
Downside…they are not sure if any of the $1000 cost will be covered by insurance because my wisdom teeth are erupted, and really there is no problem…other than my other teeth are affected by them.
I have two dental plans (Anthem and Aetna) and medical (Aetna). They sill submit to all three, and hope for,the best!
My appointment is on a Thursday and I shoild be good to go by Sunday…or,so,he says.
Re #96
What problems are they causing?
My Dd had her braces taken off on Monday and they handed us a card for the oral surgeon. You could CLEARLY see from the panarex x-ray there was no way, no how, those big old wisdom teeth are going to fit anywhere. For one thing, they are growing in completely sideways (just like mine did, and were removed, 30 years ago). I am hoping we can wait until after graduation from high school to remove them. A week of misery over spring break is no fun either.
My older kids were all completely sideways.