by Cyrus Dehkan

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: April 18, 2007

As we humans evolved our diets and therefore our use of the various types of teeth that we possess have changed. Unfortunately for most of us, lack of wisdom tooth development, hasn't caught up with the rest of our evolutionary process.

As a dentist I see all the problems associated with wisdom teeth. Although I don't necessarily preach their universal removal for everybody, removal of these teeth in general is a good idea. Wisdom tooth removal should be done mainly in younger people to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Removal at a younger age can also be an easier task due to the lack of density in the bone surrounding the tooth. The reasons for removal are as follows:

1)Removal due to impactions. If the wisdom tooth gets wedged under an existing adult tooth, it has the potential to cause infection and cause the destruction of the adjacent tooth its leaning against. Infections that are allowed to fester in the mandible, can cause several additional complications. It can lead to massive bone destruction causing a breakage within the mandible or worse, spread to the peritoneal cavity(cavity where the heart lies), potentially causing complications that could lead to death.
2)Impacted wisdom teeth can put pressure on all other teeth resulting in orthodontic problems. This can become problematic in people who need or have had orthodontic therapy.
3) In people whose hygiene is questionable, the difficulty in keeping the wisdom teeth clean becomes more of an issue. Future problems can be alleviated by preventive maintenance. In this case extractions.

The only time I would not recommend extractions would be if
1)All wisdom teeth are erupted and are being kept clean by the patient
2)The person in question is asymptomatic and is middle aged. In this case the teeth would be watched and only removed if a problem starts.
3)The wisdom tooth is in or around a main nerve. Removal may cause parasthesia, so the benefits versus the detriments need to be observed in this case.

Overall, 3rd molar or wisdom tooth removal is a good idea and one that should be pursued at an early age.

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