Current Events > Should I get my wisdom teeth removed?

(+) Yeah! (+)

They came in years ago and did really seem not to cause to problems. A few weeks ago I brushed my teeth before going to bed and pain lingered in my mouth specifically around the 2nd to the back molar on the bottom and the top front tooth that tends to get scratched by the bottom. I assumed my frequent use of sugary drinks had caught up with me, or maybe that time I felt like I may have chipped that molar had caused a problem, or maybe this high end Crest toothpaste I started using recently was irritating my mouth. I ended up using these Dentek alternative floss to try and solve the problem. Somehow I managed to push my front bottom teeth out of alignment causing myself further pain. I kind of feel like suing.

The pain persisted, and last Friday I finally got around to see a dentist. Mostly they took x-rays. The x-rays showed that one my wisdom teeth had come in at an angle putting pressure on the furthest back molar. You could see how the roots of the molar were darker. The doctor recommended removing all wisdom teeth and said the others would likely do the same when questioned why. It seemed liked a distortion of facts. The others are parallel to my other teeth, and it would require an incredible stimuli to get them in the same position. He also wanted me to get a crown on one my front teeth. When questioned, he claimed I would lose it in a year. I found that to be baseless. The damage had been done when I was a kid. I had surgery on my mouth. They told me not brush for a week, and I may have had braces at the time. It seems like a bad combination. There's no evidence that the decay has spread further, and cosmetically it barely bothers me. I take care of my teeth as they noted.

Overall, I don't really trust this guy. It seems like he just takes the easy way out at the first opportunity without doing a thorough examine and essentially treats me like a credit card. I would much rather refrain from mutilating my body as much as possible and get a 2nd opinion. It just feels off to me with how long I've had my wisdom teeth and the location of the pain.

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Do it for the Percocet.

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I was going to say something snarky involving wisdom teeth and intelligence but I'd probably get modded for it.
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I didn't. And it's probably connected to why Im currently going through some of the worst pain in my life and I can't even eat 8 strawberries without giving up half way through due to pain.

It's probably gonna push into your other teeth and make them break apart.

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Request a new dentist/bring up your concerns to the reception desk
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See another dentist if you have trust issues with the current one. Bring your images with you.

Based on your description of the xrays, it's probably appropriate to have the wisdoms out though. It sounds more like this dentist isn't good at explaining their decision making than them being evil.

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One_Day_Remains posted...

Request a new dentist/bring up your concerns to the reception desk

I've been trying to, but they aren't exactly good at scheduling. With one of them I would have to wait till August. Another till April. In the mean time, I've just decided to avoid chewing with that side of my mouth, and the pain has disappeared. I think the issue is that my 1st molar comes into contact with my upper teeth without the other teeth, so it ends up absorbing all that force. I'm not sure if removal of the wisdom tooth would lead to lessening of the height of the molar and more even force distribution.

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Duncanwii posted...

I was going to say something snarky involving wisdom teeth and intelligence but I'd probably get modded for it.

im guessing you had yours removed?

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I got all 4 of mine removed last summer. I had been suffering for years with the pain that came with them. I got some oxy out of it too.

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this is more tangential than anything but if the high end crest toothpaste youre using is that pro care advanced stuff, be careful with it. It literally caused skin to start peeling in my mouth and apparently thats not a unheard of reaction to it if google is to be trusted


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R1masher posted...

im guessing you had yours removed?

lol

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You should do it now.
The more you wait, the more pain you will feel, and the more complex your tooth extraction procedure will be to your dentist.
Plus not all wisdown teeth grow like regular teeth, they can also grow inside your gums or something like that


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ultimate reaver posted...

this is more tangential than anything but if the high end crest toothpaste youre using is that pro care advanced stuff, be careful with it. It literally caused skin to start peeling in my mouth and apparently thats not a unheard of reaction to it if google is to be trusted

That's exactly what it was.

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I'm not sure why you think you know more than your dentist lol

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If youre getting one removed, its worth it to just finish the job and get the rest removed. I needed one removed to get a crown placed on my back molar and they decided to take all of them out at the same time.

Wasnt too bad, didnt need my full prescription of the meds they gave me, but its different for everyone.
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TerraSeeker posted...

That's exactly what it was.

i saw that and guessed lol. i doubt its the sole source of your mouth troubles but a lot of people have issues with the ingredients in it causing weird reactions with their mouth. i started having little white strings of skin flake off of the inside of my lips and around my tongue and it ended up feeling like i had really bad coffee burn in my mouth for like half a week after i stopped using it

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Fuck needing another opinion just do it dude. You should have done when you were younger

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Get a new dentist, but also get your wisdom teeth removed, the recovery gets much worse with age.

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Find a good oral surgeon and go frim there.

FWIW I had mine out at 17 and after a few days of feeling bleh it all worked out for the best.

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solosnake posted...

Get a new dentist, but also get your wisdom teeth removed, the recovery gets much worse with age.

The procedure to remove them gets worse to, as the dentist will struggle trying to remove them from the far ends of the lower/upper end of the jaw. If the teeth are budging against other teeth, the dentist might also break/damage the tooth beside the wisdom tooth.
Lots of variables could also factor into the complexity of surgery as well... Wisdom teeth not protruding outside the gums, wisdom teeth growing horizontally or something, the dentist possibly having to mess with nerve tissue(thus losing the ability to feel even after recovery), and then there's also slight risk of the dentist damaging a blood vessel that sits below the jaw or something along those lines...

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BignutzisBack posted...

I'm not sure why you think you know more than your dentist lol

It's my decision to make. If he can't make an argument for it, then I certainly won't be taking his advice.

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He made the argument, you just don't want to listen.

At the bare minimum, that one wisdom tooth needs to go. It's going to get worse and it'll fuck up the tooth in front of it. I know because that happened to me. If he's doing the one, he may as well do the others. You don't need them, they might cause problems later, and it would suck to do this surgery twice.

You said your teeth moved out of alignment. That's probably why he wants a cap on them. You said the damage is done, but it'll get worse if you don't correct it. If a simple waterpik is enough to move it, that tooth is going to eventually give up.
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pegusus123456 posted...

He made the argument, you just don't want to listen.

At the bare minimum, that one wisdom tooth needs to go. It's going to get worse and it'll fuck up the tooth in front of it. I know because that happened to me. If he's doing the one, he may as well do the others. You don't need them, they might cause problems later, and it would suck to do this surgery twice.

You said your teeth moved out of alignment. That's probably why he wants a cap on them. You said the damage is done, but it'll get worse if you don't correct it. If a simple waterpik is enough to move it, that tooth is going to eventually give up.

No, he literally said the others will usually do the same when giving a reason to remove the others. That is not going to happen. They would have to re-enter the gums and come in at angle. The premise is bogus. The one that came in at an angle isn't even the cause of my pain. If I don't need a surgery, I'm not going to waste my time and money with it.

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Yes, you know more than the dentist on whats going to happen with your teeth.

Again, if you get one out, its worth it to just finish the job and get all 4 out. Theyre also useless teeth and if there is a reason to take one out, theres a greater likelihood that another one or more will have a reason to be eventually removed.

Stop trying to act like you know more than the expert in their field.
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sktgamer_13dude posted...

Stop trying to act like you know more than the expert in their field.

This is basically the essence of internet forums tbh.

If the other ones have already erupted fully, they're probably at no higher risk than the rest of your mouth, as long as you can get back there to clean them properly.
Any that are unerupted are potentially going to cause trouble later in life, so it's better to get them all out at once if they need to come out (and it sounds like at least one of them does)

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Sonic Cannon posted...

This is basically the essence of internet forums tbh.

If the other ones have already erupted fully, they're probably at no higher risk than the rest of your mouth, as long as you can get back there to clean them properly.
Any that are unerupted are potentially going to cause trouble later in life, so it's better to get them all out at once if they need to come out (and it sounds like at least one of them does)

There's a book called The Death of Expertise. One of the theses is that because you can look anything up on the internet, everyone thinks they're an expert on everything.

Full disclosure it was written by someone I know.

On topic I got all my wisdom teeth pulled at 20. On the advice of a doctor, my younger brother got his pulled as soon as they came in.


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BignutzisBack posted...

I'm not sure why you think you know more than your dentist lol

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sktgamer_13dude posted...

Yes, you know more than the dentist on whats going to happen with your teeth.

Again, if you get one out, its worth it to just finish the job and get all 4 out. Theyre also useless teeth and if there is a reason to take one out, theres a greater likelihood that another one or more will have a reason to be eventually removed.

Stop trying to act like you know more than the expert in their field.

The only reason I would have take out the others is if I didn't take care of them, and the one that I "need" to have taken out isn't actually causing me pain and has been there for years. At what point will it actually do something negative? As for the doctor, I went there to have the pain was experiencing dealt with, yet did nothing to problem solve a solution. He just looked at an x-ray and decided I needed to have them removed and left. I solved the problem without his assistance and don't need to pay him $3000.

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au_gold posted...

Do it for the Percocet.

I had all four torn out five years ago and they were hesitant to write a subscription for above-counter limit dosage of tylenol. No fucking chance I'd ever have gotten percs.

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I've had three out, all at separate times as they caused issues. It's been about 4 or 5 years since the last one, and the fourth hasn't given me any issues yet. I'd say at least get the one taken out.

Mine were all simple extractions, though, just novacaine and basically yanking it out. I know some people have to be put under and have real surgery to get them out, so if they say that's the case for you, it'd probably be better to get them all done together.

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If theybare causing problems yes. Only had 3 come in and onl ly needed one taken out. The other 2 are connected to my sinus cavity and dentist said he didnt want them coming out. Mine came in late at 36. Which is why i dont trust what i read on the internet. Intetnet says once you hit 35 youre in the clear. Bullcrap.

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That is medical science.You deserve everything you get. Our schools are failing us.

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SauI_Goodman posted...

If theybare causing problems yes. Only had 3 come in and onl ly needed one taken out. The other 2 are connected to my sinus cavity and dentist said he didnt want them coming out. Mine came in late at 36. Which is why i dont trust what i read on the internet. Intetnet says once you hit 35 youre in the clear. Bullcrap.

They aren't causing problems. It was the toothpaste that was cause problems.

It seems like a lot of people here lack the ability to think about think about things rationally and come to their own conclusions.

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