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Did you know that about 5 million people have their wisdom teeth extracted per year? That’s close to the population of the Houston area! However, not everyone needs to have this surgical procedure.

What exactly are wisdom teeth? Is it really necessary to have them taken out? How can you know if you need to have yours removed?

As an oral surgeon, I’m asked these questions a lot in my practice. This post consists of my answers to my patients and anyone who wants to know about wisdom tooth extractions.

What Are Wisdom Teeth?
The third set of molars, which are commonly called wisdom teeth, start to develop and erupt typically between 16 and 25 years of age.

In history, ancient humans had wider mouths because they ate tough whole grains and raw vegetables for their regular diet. With more space, their third molars grew in without issue. However, nowadays, humans’ mouths tend to be more narrow because our food is softer and more processed. Also worth considering, in the past, oral hygiene wasn’t typical, which meant that many people lost teeth early in life from decay. In modern times, oral hygiene preserves teeth, making the wisdom teeth unnecessary.

Reasons Wisdom Teeth May Need to Be Extracted
In some cases, a person does not need to have their wisdom teeth removed. In fact, they have plenty of room in the arches without pushing against the other teeth. These teeth are able to erupt straight and healthy. In this situation, there’s no reason to take out the wisdom teeth.

However, most of the time, these third molars cause problems, namely the following.

Tooth Pain
For many, wisdom teeth develop in improper locations in the mouth because there isn’t enough space. When they aren’t perfectly straight or aligned correctly, it is called impaction, and these teeth can press against the second molars, which in turn pushes against other teeth in the arch. As you might imagine, this grinding pressure often hurts! Extraction takes care of the source of the tooth pain, allowing you to get relief and regain oral function.

Misaligned Teeth
Along with pain, impacted wisdom teeth can cause teeth to shift out of alignment, throwing off the bite. This not only negatively affects how you can eat and chew food, but it also can lead to uneven enamel wear, leading to more dental damage. When wisdom teeth are removed, pushing stops, enabling your teeth to stay in their ideal positions.

Infections
When a tooth erupts at an unsafe angle or lopsided, it creates a tiny crevice where bacteria can get trapped. As a result, oral infections become more common. These infections can become quite serious and painful, which is why impacted wisdom teeth are extracted before eruption to prevent these infections from harming you and your smile.

Ultimately, if you are told that wisdom tooth extraction is necessary in your case, you can ask about the reason and understand that it is meant to spare you from pain, bite misalignment, and infection. For this procedure, turn to a trusted oral surgeon for extraction to make sure you have the most comfortable experience possible with specialist.

All tooth replacements are the same, aren’t they?. No, not at all! While traditional dentures and bridges enable you to have a complete set of teeth again visibly, implant restorations are the only option that also restores the tooth roots. As a result, they are best option if you want to keep your smile healthy and strong in the long term. How do they improve your oral health over normal dentures and bridges? Keep reading to find out!

Strengthen the Jawbone
As soon as a tooth root is removed from the jawbone, the tissue is resorbed by the body. Basically, the jawbone starts to degrade, becoming weaker and less dense over time. As a result, your ability to bite and chew food also gets weaker. Plus, a diminished jawbone makes it easier to suffer additional, future tooth loss.

Replacing the root as well as the crown, dental implants encourage new bone growth and continue to draw nutrients to the tissue just like real roots, which means that you can keep eating nutritious foods with at least 75 percent of your original biting power. In addition, with a strong jawbone, you have the support necessary to preserve your other teeth.

Maintain Jawbone Shape
When the jawbone decreases in density from tooth loss, it also slowly changes shape over time. That’s why people who have missing teeth tend to have old-looking, sunken faces. Although traditional dentures can help regain some ground, youthful facial shape is gone.

Fortunately, replacing missing teeth with implants keeps the jawbone strong and healthy. Consequently, it retains its shape over the years because the implants are securely embedded in the bone tissue, like real teeth.

What if you lost teeth a long time ago? Depending on how much time has lapsed, you may need to have a bone graft, which builds your jawbone back up enough to get implants. So, even then, you can have your healthier facial shape back when you choose implants!

Spare Surrounding Teeth from Unnecessary Damage
Other replacement options—namely bridges and partial dentures—rely on your remaining teeth to stay in place. Before a bridge can be attached, the two teeth on either side of the gap have be to be reduced. In other words, perfectly healthy enamel has to be removed to make room for the bridge.

Partial dentures often use metal clasps that wrap around the teeth for stability. Although this doesn’t directly cause damage, it could increase the risk of cavities or excessive wear for these teeth.

On the other hand, implants are completely independent of other teeth because they integrate with the jawbone, meaning no teeth are harmed in the process! Simply put, you get to keep your healthy teeth just as they are with dental implants.

At this point, it should be pretty clear why you should seriously consider implants to replace your missing teeth. It’s worth talking to an oral surgeon, an implant specialist, about this option so you can have a brilliant, stable, and long-lasting smile for many years to come!