<p>^No insurance makes things tricky…</p>
<p>And it’s not really pain; just discomfort.</p>
<p>If your wisdom teeth are impacted it means they aren’t going to come through properly. There either isn’t enough space, they are coming the wrong direction, etc. You already know there is a potential problem. Complications of impacted wisdom teeth are infection, decay, damage to other teeth, cysts, and overcrowding. If you aren’t having any problems with the impacted wisdom teeth, fine, however ‘discomfort’ indicates you ought to get it checked out to avoid a host of potential problems. It’s certainly my two cents, but you asked for opinions, right?</p>
<p>Thanks blueiguana, you’re right. I’ll look into it.</p>
<p>My kid had hers out 2 weeks ago. Perfect, no complication. We filed it with our medical insurance and received full reimbursement. </p>
<p>Novad3 - check with your medical insurance, you may be able to get reimbursed by them, even if you don’t have dental.</p>
<p>I’m 17, and just yesterday i have my bottom 2 wisdom teeth filled in. I guess I had enough room in my mouth that they weren’t causing any problems, but they wanted to fill them because they were so deep, and they didn’t want me getting cavities.</p>
<p>One of the best decisions we made was to remove D’s wisdom teeth during sophomore year. They were impacted and going to be a problem according to dentist. Her teeth always came in early, so we weren’t surprised when it happened again with the wisdom teeth. </p>
<p>She was also an athlete in multiple sports, busy with school and not only was it a convenient time for her calendar - but also, after spending a small fortune on orthodontia, I wasn’t excited that all the work to get her teeth straight, might change once the teeth started coming through!</p>
<p>Meanwhile, most of her buddies are going through the procedure now or will be in senior year or college.</p>
<p>One reason to have the procedure done earlier rather than later, according to my daughters’ oral surgeon, is that in a small jaw the teeth develop very near a nerve; the more the teeth grow in, the closer they get to the nerve, and the more difficult it is to extract them without chance of complication or damage to the nerve. My kids have all had to have teeth extracted so there was room in their jaws for the ones coming in, so there was clearly not going to be room even for the teeth to try to come in, and certainly not without messing up the existing teeth. This is one of those situations that can really vary from person to person, and where getting advice from a doctor you trust is vital–I don’t think you can generalize.</p>
<p>Both daughters had a longer recovery than some of the posters have had; one had complications (dry socket), one didn’t, but neither of them felt up to much for a week.</p>
<p>OP - don’t jeopardize the orthodontia and get them extracted ASAP. Wisdom teeth are much easier to extract if they haven’t erupted yet (according to my oral surgeon), so it’s much easier to do it while your daughters are younger (and the recovery won’t be as rough). I had a tough recovery thanks to a bad reaction to the drugs… blah. So wish I had been one of those people who bounces back after 2-3 days! Lucky ducks.</p>
<p>Checking in again - youngest D who had teeth out one week ago made a quick recovery and flew off to her new home town yesterday. She took Percocet for 4 days then eased onto Advil for 2 more days. </p>
<p>The swelling was pretty much gone by day 7. I think my aggressive ice pack (frozen pea) regimen probably helped. The oral surgeon said I was the first mom who ever brought the peas in to the recovery room - I had her icing the minute they finished. My technique (developed by nursing four wisdom tooth patients) is to put the peas in a specially made cloth bag, press them up against the jaws, wrap the face/head with a muffler to hold them in place, and then tuck a bean bag under the patient’s chin to hold them off his/her chest. Thirty minutes on, ten minutes off for 36 hours. I have a photo of my D sleeping like this.</p>
<p>Edit: Oh, and you will need four bags of peas as they get defrosted over time.</p>
<p>^ I do a slightly altered version of this… We use navy beans as they don’t thaw and don’t get as cold so they are more comfortable next to the skin. We keep frozen navy beans in the freezer all the time and use them for frequent migraines, bumps, etc.</p>
<p>S who is leaving for his first year in college in a week had his taken out 2 weeks ago. There were all impacted and the bottom ones were almost horizontal headed into molars. Not interested in messing up that orthodontic smile! No swelling thanks to keeping his head elavated and frozen lima beans. He was eating and back to normal on day 5.</p>
<p>At every dentist I went to from my teens until my 30s, I was told to get my wisdom teeth removed. I asked a lot of questions to understand why (I’m not pain adverse, I’ve had LOTS of medical and dental stuff done, but it needs to make sense to me). </p>
<p>But in this case, I never got a good answer to satisfy me so I didn’t have them out. It was always ‘well one day they might pose a problem’. It seems rather extreme for only a possibility (especially when yes they CAN be taken out if they pose a problem…sure it <em>might</em> pose complications then but that is also just a probability). It just seems ridiculously over the top to do something so extensive because something <em>might</em> be a problem and fixing that problem if it occurs then <em>might</em> be more complicated.</p>
<p>In my case, granted a sample size of only one, they were impacted, they never emerged, but they have never been a problem. After around 35 they said not to bother. </p>
<p>Sort of reminds me of how we all used to get our tonsils taken out.</p>
<p>Please read this below. </p>
<p>In 2008, the American Public Health Association (APHA) adopted a policy in opposition to prophylactic removal of wisdom teeth. Only a 1/3rd of wisdom tooth extractions can be justified. </p>
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<p>If anyone would like the full article, I’ve saved it and can email it to you if you send me a PM.</p>
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<p>Friedman J. Health policy and ethics. The prophylactic extraction of third molars: a public health hazard. American Journal of Public Health. September 2007;97(9):1554-1559.</p>
<p>starbright, I agree with your approach. I had the top two out when young, and for the rest of my 30+ years, each new dentist said, “Ooooh you need to get those bottom ones out or they will cause problems…” Well I didn’t get them out and they never caused problems, even though they don’t have matching top teeth to munch against.</p>
<p>We had D1’s removed as a matter of course at age 19 and her recovery was pretty bad. She was on the sofa for about 3 days and pretty useless for a full five.</p>
<p>With D2, we have not taken any action even though she has been given the usual prescription to have them out. I really do not want to put her through the experience if it is not truly necessary.</p>
<p>It is a myth that wisdom teeth cause straight front teeth to become crooked. They might impact the teeth next to them, but they have little impact on the other teeth. At about the same time the wisdom teeth come in, there are some changes to the jaw that can cause crowding and shifting of the front teeth. Many people blame this on wisdom teeth but it is a coincidence. There might be reasons to remove them, but worrying about messing up expensive orthodontia is likely not one of them.</p>
<p>cartera,
I read a study that concluded the same thing, but I hesitated to mention it because I do not have the source citation.</p>
<p>I have read it but my D’s orthodontist and dentist and more than one dentist who I have used over the years have all told me that. My teeth were perfectly straight when I started college, but by sophomore year, my bottom teeth were crooked. I blamed my wisdom teeth, but my dentist corrected me and explained how changes in the jaw caused it.</p>
<p>I’m against paying for things i’ll never need.</p>
<p>That said, I had a couple of wisdom teeth that point a lot more forward than they do upwards on my lower jaw. One eventually gave me trouble as a spot that always trapped food. And finally, after enough decades, it created a situation that required two root canals. I never did have it extracted, but my dentist worked a rather unique procedure that removed the offending part of the wisdom tooth, and then repaired the decay and root canal in the adjacent tooth. </p>
<p>It would have been better if I’d had it removed when I was younger. Once you age enough, the potential complications of the surgery are too much to worry about. If the teeth are aligned pretty much like your other teeth, I’d do nothing. If they are obviously radically aligned (you can see this as well as your dentist) I’d have the extraction done.</p>
<p>I kept mine in till I was 35, all four, fully erupted. After having one of them break and all of them filled over time, my dentist begged me to get them extracted. In our family, it seems to be a problem with a too small jaw structure, and this has been problematic on many levels. </p>
<p>It was far easier to have the wisdom teeth out then keep them in. I don’t have trouble with food getting caught anymore. </p>
<p>Interestingly enough, after getting them removed my debilitating migraines lessened. Not sure if correlation or coincidence, but I was delighted and am just happy they aren’t as frequent or painful as they used to be!</p>