Is wisdom teeth removal necessary?
Wisdom teeth are the third and last molars on each side of the upper and lower jaws. They are also the final teeth to erupt. They usually come in when a person is in their late teens or early twenties.
Wisdom teeth may not need to be removed if they are:
- Healthy
- Grown in completely (fully erupted)
- Positioned correctly and biting properly with their opposite teeth
- Able to be cleaned as part of daily hygiene practices
However, as wisdom teeth are the last permanent teeth to come in, or erupt, there is often not enough room left in your mouth to accommodate them. This can lead to impacted wisdom teeth, which simply means that, the wisdom teeth are below the gum line and not erupted. If teeth are impacted, swelling and tenderness may occur in the area of the third molar and that’s the time for wisdom teeth to remove.
Aside from that, if they don’t have room to grow properly and can cause problems. Erupting wisdom teeth can grow at various angles in the jaw, sometimes even horizontally. Sometimes wisdom teeth only partially emerge through the gums. Other times, they remain completely hidden. Wisdom teeth that aren’t able to emerge normally become impacted, or trapped, within your jaw.
If the wisdom teeth emerge partially through the gums, a passageway is created, which can cause problems. And because this area is hard to see and clean, it can become a magnet for bacteria that cause gum disease and oral infection.
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