Get a FREE Consultation!
First Name:
Last Name:
Email:
Phone
Procedure/ Service Interested In:

Comments:

When to Get Wisdom Teeth Out

One of the sure things about your teeth is that, at some point, you’ll have to get your wisdom teeth removed. Often times, the decision is made for you—you’ll wake up one day with a throbbing ache at the back of your mouth, or a steadily increasing series of pains in the area of your wisdom teeth will send you to the dentist. But what do you do when the wisdom teeth aren’t bothering you at all? Do you get them removed, or wait until the inevitable happens? Here are some suggestions on when to get your wisdom teeth removed:

—During the teenage years. Wisdom teeth usually begin appearing around the age of 16. Some dentists recommend taking the proactive approach and getting them removed before they begin making their presence known, so to speak, but human nature is to wait until the teeth begin providing discomfort, which may not happen until the 20s or even 30s.

Note: One advantage of getting wisdom teeth out as teenagers is that there’s a better chance of the procedure being covered under a parent’s health insurance. Single adults often don’t carry dental insurance and wisdom teeth removal, while not something that will likely put a person into debt, isn’t cheap, either. Having wisdom teeth removed as a teenager will save on a big bill years down the road.

—Once the pain starts to appear: This is a particularly risk-free approach for younger patients. But the older people get, the riskier it is to wait to remove wisdom teeth until they begin aching and throbbing. If a tooth hurts, chances are it is impacted or “partially erupted,” i.e. only partially through the skin, which makes the surgery more complicated and expensive. It also increases the odds that the patient is suffering from pericoronitis - a bacterial infection in the tissues surrounding the crown part of a tooth that is partially erupted - or that the tooth is beginning to crowd in on other molars, increasing the vulnerability of those teeth. In these cases, wisdom tooth surgery becomes a necessity.

Whenever you have them out, should you get them all out at once or two at a time? Getting all four wisdom teeth removed at the same time is the most popular choice, since most people figure it’s better to put up with the minimal amount of pain and inconvenience caused by wisdom teeth removal just once. But today, more and more dentists are suggesting that the wisdom tooth surgery should be a two-part exercise. Whether you go for the all-at-once approach or divide it up depends largely on how you’re feeling—if the teeth are causing you pain, then it’s probably best to get all four out at the same time—and your schedule. Can you get a couple days off from work for two recoveries, or, in the case of a student, can the surgery be scheduled for Fridays so that a minimal amount of school is missed?

Whatever you decide, make sure to follow your dentist or oral surgeon’s advice throughout the process of having your wisdom teeth removed!

Back to Dental Articles

Stay in Touch with the Howell Dental with special offers, news and events