<p>Son had dentist appt. yesterday for a routine cleaning. Three out of four wisdom teeth are showing in dental x-ray. The dentist asked son if the orthodontist was aware of this. Son only goes to ortho. every 6 months for retainer check. I don’t believe the orthodontist has done any x-rays since braces were put on 4 years ago. Of course both offices are closed today so I can’t call dentist or orthodontist to see what the course of action is. Son has driven himself to these appt. the past 2 years, so I feel like I have dropped the ball on these lurking wisdom teeth. How long can we wait before having these taken out? I really don’t think we could do this before son returns to college. Dentist did not say they were impacted or that it was something that needed to be done ASAP. Any words of wisdom about these wisdom teeth would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Do a search for old threads, there were a couple earlier this year, while you are awaiting responses here.</p>
<p>They usually don’t have to come out unless they are giving him problems, either pain or messing up the other teeth. My D’s caused her pain starting over winter break one year, and she went to the dentist/ortho over spring break and scheduled the extraction for early summer after exams were over. I’d schedule an appt with the orthodontist for consult before he goes back to school, and any action can probably wait until semester break, or maybe even be put off til next summer if the teeth haven’t broken through yet. If he’s not in pain, it’s not anything that requires immediate action, but should start being considered.</p>
<p>Make sure the orthodontist either sees the other xrays or does his own. Whether wisdom teeth mess up the other teeth depends on how much room there is in the jaw and other factors. It may not be a problem for your son.</p>
<p>Our dentist said in passing we should have our son’s wisdom teeth removed. We did not think there was any urgency and decided to leave it to see if they caused him any problems. A mistake in his case as they moved his other teeth which are now quite crooked (after years of braces and all that money 
). When our daughters started coming through we had them removed immediately. A couple of hers were impacted also.</p>
<p>Definitely have the ortho check to see if they are likely to cause a problem. I wish we had asked more questions at the time.</p>
<p>My daughter’s orthodontist did panoramics and he told us when the wisdom teeth were “ripe” and should be removed. Ortho’s hate it when all their good work is undone by wisdom teeth.
definitely talk to the orthodontist at the next visit. if your dentist did panoramic x-rays then take them with you.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone I will search the old threads too.
Son goes for retainer check in a few weeks and I will plan on attending this appointment! Our dentist did just regular bite-wings, but I know the ortho. has the panoramic machine in office. Son was quite late in losing all his baby teeth/ getting all his permanent teeth so braces did not go on until he was almost 16. Our ortho. preferred to have baby teeth fall out on their own. Maybe wisdom teeth will be late bloomers too. I am hoping we can wait until next summer as we have already used up all our flexible healthcare amount. We sure didn’t budget enough this year!</p>
<p>We were basically told that wisdom teeth nowadays have to come out. I had quite an ordeal with the surgery; I ended up having to take high doses of Percocet and Vicodin for close to a month, got dry sockets (despite following every instruction to the letter), multiple infections, lots of bleeding, etc. And I didn’t even get any of the “bad” side effects. Definitely do the procedure if you need to, but keep in mind that it may not be as simple, easy, or painless as it sounds. I can tell you that I was in almost as much pain as I can imagine, to the extent that I felt like I was on the verge of going crazy after a while. </p>
<p>Weigh it out. There’s a risk of the wisdom teeth messing up orthodontics or causing other problems further down the line (when removing wisdom teeth is a more complicated procedure), but it’s also surgery, and there are risks.</p>
<p>D went for a routine dentist appt. early June and the dentist took an xray that indicated that it was time to have the wisdom teeth removed. D had the procedure done on a Thursday a.m. in early July. Thursday - she slept most of the day. (She unfortunately not only had her teeth removed, but a bad case of cramps. At least your son won’t have that complication. 
). Friday, Saturday, and Sunday involved a lot of ice cream and tv. She had planned to go back to work on Mon from 9-1, but got up, took a pain pill and went back to sleep. She did go to work from 1-3 (rescheduled), but came home and napped. However, that was pretty much the end of it, as by Tues she resumed her regular schedule.</p>
<p>My only words of wisdom (third time to have wisdom teeth removed in the house): plan on more recovery time that you really think you need. Although my d did resume her regular schedule after the fifth day, it was not a strenous schedule - work from 9-1 and then nothing. A school day with homework would have been too much. Learned that with oldest d.; she went back to school and just looked “worn out” for about two weeks.</p>
<p>Our son had them out a few years ago. We did 2+2 because I was worried that doing all four could be traumatic. When I had mine done, two were at an Oral Surgeon and apparently there were some serious problems (I was out so I didn’t know). The other two were done in a hospital. His were a piece of cake. Fast recovery time too. I think that the technology has changed considerably since I had mine done and it appears that it is quick and convenient today.</p>
<p>OP: Just because they are there doesn’t mean they are going to be a problem or cause for concern, sometimes they do grow in and fit beautifully. However the recommendation today is to have them extracted young as it reduces the chances for complications tremendously. The main reason is to avoid future periodontal (gum) problems and not necessarily because they are going to push your bottom teeth and make them crooked (they don’t). Also, even if they come in straight, they are difficult to access if you need to restore them as you get older. If you have dental insurance, it is better to do it now that your children are covered and not wait until they go to college and your coverage might be different (it can be quite expensive if you have I.V. sedation and all 4 are removed at the same time). If finances are a problem, there is no reason not to do them one at a time (most problems come from the lower ones so they should be removed first if that’s the case). Or two at a time as previous poster noted.</p>
<p>I agree with BCEagle - getting wisdom teeth out today is not nearly as traumatic as it was “back in the day” -
I would suggest going to an oral surgeon who does wisdom teeth extraction a lot. We have a big practice in our community and they did all 4 of my kids. My kids had them done at one time and none had close to the pain, swelling and serious complications that I had. It was covered under our dental and medical plan although going forward our medical plan will no longer cover it.
If you plan ahead and have a section 125 plan you can use that money as well.</p>
<p>september
we planned for both kids to have them out on the day after they arrived home on the winter breaks of their freshman years. They were both recovered and okay by the festive holiday time of the break and fine to return to campus after the 4-5 week break. Both times the office’s were filled with college aged kids.</p>
<p>As one counter example to the mantra that all wisdom teeth must come out…</p>
<p>I was bugged for YEARS to get my impacted wisdom teeth out by every dentist I saw, from teens onward. I never received an answer that convinced me so I never did get them out. </p>
<p>They never bothered me and now at 45 they are still there, still fine, never messed with my orthodontic-corrected teeth. Now the dentists say “well no point in taking them out now”.</p>
<p>lol @ starbright… this seems to happen quite often with people I know… they just don’t listen to the dentist, but then everything turns out all right.</p>
<p>The philosophy in our neck of the woods definately seems to be take them out before college…before the roots have a chance to grow larger and grow closer to the facial nerve. Dd will have all four out on Monday. Definately no room for them and don’t want to risk damage to the permanent teeth which have been straightened by the ortho. </p>
<p>Much more risky to remove as an adult.</p>
<p>^^^ I have heard the same, the younger they come out the easier it is. Mine were removed at age 24 when 1 became infected, and I had a much harder time than DS, who had his done preventatively at age 18. The jaw is still developing/growing until early 20’s, and the more bone that has grown around the teeth the worse the removal will be if it becomes necessary.</p>
<p>DS’s were done right after New Year’s during his first year of college. Seems to be a VERY popular time to have them removed!</p>
<p>I will probably have D’s removed, we paid a lot for her braces and I don’t want her wisdom teeth to cause her teeth to shift!</p>
<p>I think it’s definitely the earlier the better. The risk of complications greatly increases once they’ve become fully set in place. The procedure is nasty enough as it is, adding something like a broken jaw to the mix is to be avoided if possible. </p>
<p>I had mine out when I was about 16 or so and I won’t sugar coat it, it sucked big time… but it’s a necessary evil to avoid bigger problems later. One bit of advice that we received from the surgeon and can second… the best ice pack is a pack of frozen peas. They mold to fit your face and provide a nice cold, but not too cold, compression.</p>
<p>As Lafalum very well says, the jaw continues to develop and grow into the early 20’s. It will continue to do so whether you have wisdom teeth or not. That’s what causes the shifting of the teeth. What will really keep the lower front teeth from shifting/crowding is the wearing of the retainers well into this period.</p>
<p>I would definitely try to see an oral surgeon as soon as possible for an evaluation. I think one reason to routinely remove the “third molars” or wisdom teeth is that they are so far back in the mouth and are hard to keep clean and hard to keep the gum tissue healthy back there. Also of course if they are not coming in straight or if there is not enough room in the mouth.</p>
<p>Just remember that recovery time is very individual. If the patient gets one or more “dry sockets” that will increase the pain and recovery time a lot. Getting dry sockets appears to be a random event and plenty of patients get them that follow all care instructions, so you never know. Both of my boys had theirs removed at the age of 16; they’re both really pain tolerant but were down for a good 3-4 days for a normal recovery.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Oral surgeons are the experts in this area. But… I also suspect oral surgeons earn a large portion of their income from this very common procedure. I’d ask friends for recommendations for an oral surgeon (that’s how I found ours) but when you go for the consult bear in mind that the oral surgeon is probably pre-disposed to encourage their removal. Not saying oral surgeons are unethical, but if it’s a gray area I’d expect them to lean toward removal.</p>