My daughter’s wisdom teeth were not impacted, but were decaying, which she ignored. While away at school, she called me to tell me she was in the hospital. An infection had developed under one of the decaying wisdom teeth. Out of town with no dentist, she had gone to urgent care where she was prescribed an antibiotic. A few days later, the infection was much worse (golf ball size under the jaw), so she went to ER where it was drained, they removed dead tissue, and she was admitted. She ended up on some very strong antibiotics and under the care of an infectious disease specialist.
Once she was healed enough, she went to an oral surgeon to have all four removed. Since they were not impacted, he didn’t know if insurance would pay for anesthesia. She wanted to be asleep for it, so we told him to put her under anyway. In the end, Delta Dental had no issue with it and paid for the anesthesia.
For a while there was concern that she would need to have a port put in to be on IV antibiotics for several weeks. Fortunately, the oral antibiotics and oral surgery solved the problem and that was avoided.
I have heard that even if wisdom teeth erupt and have enough room that it can be hard to clean them effectively since they are even further back than 2nd molars.
I used to only go to dentists (except my wisdom tooth removal), with my kids we have now seen orthodontists, oral surgeons, periodontists and my H had a root canal that got reinfected and had to see an endodontist. He was in so much pain and wanted to have the tooth pulled but OS couldn’t get him in and I found the endodontist and they got him right in and retreated the tooth trough the existing crown and he felt much better after that and still has his tooth.
I kept all four wisdom teeth into my 50’s even convincing my dentist to put a filling on one :). No big deal except once in a while (every 5 years) it would pop an infection requiring antibiotics. I learned to recognize the symptoms and would call in the dentist who would call it in. The only downside was that when the one wisdom tooth that had the filling had to come out, it felt like a car accident happened inside my mouth (lidocaine only, no sedation).
Not necessarily a scam, but maybe a preventative step that we didn’t all used to be insured for. One of mine abscessed when I was 50, and I had all 4 pulled. The root continues to grow as you age, and get closed to the nerve in your jaw. Also, pulling them when the roots are that long risks breaking the jaw. Not pulling them and having the abscess can also cause your jaw to break. The initial procedure was ok because I was out but the recovery was ugly - major swelling. And guess what? Major swelling in your jaw at 50 gives you instant jowls because your skin is not as elastic as it was when you were 20.
So…if you can afford it, tell your kids to deal with it now.
Removed at age 24 when my teeth were crowded and flossing was not easy. Teeth straightened themselves out and looked better after a few years. Had it done for free at a dental school. Still it does sound like a scam, just like the flouride treatment.
My dad was a dentist. Mine were pulled before I entered college. He removed my cousins wisdom teeth. Mine were impacted, and done in a hospital. I never thought this was a scam.
I thought it was a scam until my then 23 year old developed an abscess and had to have hers removed on an emergency basis. She was in awful pain and it could have been averted. I questioned the dentist more closely and consulted with an oral surgeon on behalf of the younger two girls. I learned that (1) there is always a risk of abscess, particularly if the teeth do not erupt (2) the teeth can affect the neighboring teeth and the entire jaw based on their position and health and (3) the teeth are much easier to remove when the patient is younger. As they grow, the teeth develop longer roots that encroach on the nerves and the jaw becomes harder and less elastic. I was sold. Maybe it’s a scam but it sounded reasonable to me.
My youngest, now 18, had hers taken out yesterday. I would have pressed her to schedule it earlier but the timing was always difficult. She had 4 fully impacted wisdom teeth and was uncomfortable yesterday. Today she seems almost back to normal, thanks to regular doses of Advil. She plans to go out and meet friends tomorrow. (We’ll see.) She had almost no swelling. Using the ice packs religiously did the job.
We picked up the prescriptions today for extraction next Monday. He has vicodin, a special rinse, and an antibiotic to start taking a day before the surgery. I have two sets of the full face ice packs from when D had hers out over the summer.
@thumper, we divided one big bag of frozen peas up into two smaller ziploc bags. That was a nice size. I had two in freezer and two in use, rotating back and forth.
It’s helpful to have a scarf or something to wrap around head to help hold them in place.
Fluoride is not a a scam, not from my experience at least. My beloved country of Elbonia did not use it so despite decent dental hygiene of the times, I have more fillings than teeth
Prophylactic wisdom tooth removal is not a scam, but there are reasonable arguments against it for many situations. In the US, typical practice is currently biased toward prophylactic removal, the opposite of the case in the UK and some other countries. Part of the issue is that the decision is made based on uncertain prediction of future dental and medical health; see how the decision must be made in [reply #56](Can we discuss wisdom teeth? - #57 by ucbalumnus - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums).
The procedure is not without risks, even for young people. How many symptom-free young people have to go through this procedure (which when I had it done took a week to full recovery) to save one person having a crisis later? This would be the “number needed to treat” that is the usual basis for any standardized medical procedure. (The answer is: LOTS!!!)
Their estimate of problematic wisdom teeth is 10% to 20%. They are totally OK with removal when there are actual reasons. They also cite studies showing that many impacted teeth right themselves later, or never cause problems. Many westernized countries do not support the current American practice.
There are pros and cons on both sides. I and some of my older children had it done the “American way” but with my last child we are resisting the rather extreme pressure from the dentist office to have it done (without any individualized reasons to do so). We even got the classic “wisdom toothache on the eve of important exam” talk. Yes, it can happen, but D could get appendicitis too–should we do a preventative appendectomy? The odds are nearly the same.
My BIL-a dentist- sat me down and fully explained the pros and cons and after looking at my daughter’s x-rays told me that there are arguments for either way. He understands why the OS said to pull them, but given the roots are close to the nerve there is always a chance of " opening up a can of worms." If we leave the teeth in there may never be any problems at all. My older daughter needed them removed; this one comes with arguments for and against.
Our son’s removal could be called prophylactic. But . . . mine were impacted and sideways and were too big (along with other molars) to ever grow properly into my mouth. H had his pulled later but had a similar situation. D’s started causing pain while she was at college (also impacted) and it was very difficult to get her lined up with timing to have them out between being out of state and having her summers lined up with internships, etc. She finally had them out while she was home for 2 weeks last summer. I had S have an eval at the same time so I could plan for his and get it in while he is here after the holidays. After that who knows when we can pin him down and I wanted it in at the beginning of the insurance cycle for maximum coverage.
If you aren’t paying through a combination of private insurance and flex plan money and if you are OK with the European model of dental alignment that’s one thing. Based on family history, insurance status and the $$$$$ spent on braces for this kid I’m all for getting while the getting is good.
We have bad teeth and small mouths in this family. Once my eldest developed an abscess in one of her impacted wisdom teeth and I saw the misery she went through, I was on board to have the younger two have theirs removed before any problems revealed themselves. I don’t regret it.
