Wisdom teeth??

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I am 35 yo and have never cut my wisdom teeth. They were never removed either. I havnt seen any sign of them. : Anyone else out there never cut these teeth?? I wonder how common it is to never get them? Anyone know

[AJP]

I have all 4, and thankfully they're straight and healthy. I read an article a few years ago in a magazine (Smithsonian, maybe? not sure) that said, IIRC, fewer than 5 percent of people get all 4 wisdom teeth that emerge fully and straight and don't get impacted (blocked and stuck by the other teeth). I didn't know it was that rare. The article was about "extra" body parts, like wisdom teeth, appendices, extra ribs.

Mine came in when I was 17-18. Some people just don't have them, and I know many who do have problems with not having enough room for them. Maybe one of the dentists here will chime in. I'll try to remember to ask my dentist next time approximately how many of his patients have wisdom teeth. I find it interesting, because I see the prevalence of problems with them to be linked to nutritional decline in our society through the last several generations causing most people to not have dental arches with adequate room for all the teeth. I wonder what the archaeological record shows about wisdom teeth. Did it used to be normal to have all of them with no problems?

[glendora]

My last one just fully surfaced in the last few months. I'm 27.

[angelpie545]

I'm 25 and I have three that are coming in and one that is already in. The one on my lower left side is severely imapcted and causing a lot of pain, but so far I've been really chicken to get it removed b/c I cannot tolerate sedatives/general anesthesia. So, that basically leaves me with no choice but to go local and grin and bear it! I am NOT looking forward to it.

[kibba]

I have them and came on this thred because I am getting them out friday and was looking for support. I am really scared!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I hope that they come in with no problem kibba. I dont blame you for being scared since every time I hear the words wisdom tooth it is usually followed by having them removed or impacted

[charmander]

I don't know how common they are, but I don't have any.

DS just had an appt at the orthodontist today - they took an x-ray of his jaw, and it looks like he doesn't have any either. Yay! The orthodontist said it is usually hereditary, so I guess he takes after me.

[kaPOW!]

Originally Posted by kibba

I have them and came on this thred because I am getting them out friday and was looking for support. I am really scared!

Hi Kibba. I had mine removed and didn't have any problems whatsoever. My husband had his removed a couple of years ago, and he didn't have any problems at all either. None of our parents had any problems either, nor has anyone who I've ever talked about it with in person.

[AJP]

I just had a thought. I'm so thankful I did not get braces as a kid, because most likely my (unemerged) wisdom teeth would have been taken out preemptively, I think that's standard practice. I almost did get braces -because I have an overbite, which became less pronounced as I grew, I don't have issues with crowded teeth - but then the funding fell through at the last minute and it didn't happen. I'm sure if the orthodontist's proposed (rather drastic) plan had been followed, my wisdom teeth would have become impacted if they hadn't been removed first, because my teeth would have been shifted around enough that the space for the wisdom teeth would have been messed up, all in the name of a Hollywood smile. I wonder how often that happens, that a kid has braces as a teenager, then later has to have impacted wisdom teeth removed because there isn't room for them to emerge later because of all the tooth movement.

[onthemove]

don't have any...had x-rays done finally because I have been waiting for them to surface.

[SuperMoM2GTO]

They had all came in by the time I was 20. I had 3 of them removed (plus 4 others) to make space when I got braces.

[springbabes]

I had mine removed when I was a teenager. All 4 were impacted. I also had 4 bicuspids removed to make room though I'm not sure how necessary that was--I now have space in the back of my mouth: . Interestingly enough my oldest DD is missing the same permanent bicuspids that I had removed. She's also missing a lateral incisor on the bottom: .

My DH never had his wisdom teeth removed--he has a full set of teeth.

[2tadpoles]

Mine were removed at age 22, when I was in the Navy.

I don't know if it's still common practice, but the U.S. Navy used to routinely remove wisdom teeth to avoid complications during deployments. It can really suck to be on a submarine for 6 months with tooth pain.

Anyway, my upper ones were not horribly impacted, but they probably would have begun to cause pain later. My bottom ones almost laid sideways. They had to be broken into pieces before being cut out.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by angelpie545

I'm 25 and I have three that are coming in and one that is already in. The one on my lower left side is severely imapcted and causing a lot of pain, but so far I've been really chicken to get it removed b/c I cannot tolerate sedatives/general anesthesia. So, that basically leaves me with no choice but to go local and grin and bear it! I am NOT looking forward to it.

I just had local when I had my three very impacted wisdom teeth removed, it was fine. Two were really far down there, I was mainly really sore vs. being in pain after. I had only 3 wisdom teeth, my mom did as well.

[USAmma]

I did because they were sideways in my mouth and causing pain and causing my other teeth to shift.

[mama_daba]

i didn't get mine until i was 25 they didn't cause much trouble but enough that i needed them out. i had a boss who didn't get hers until her late 40's and had to get hers removed. i had braces as a teenager and i am very glad i had them. i had an amazing orthodontist who was one of the few grownups i felt comfortable around and was happy to listen to me talk during adjustments he was really great and he did amazing work on my teeth. my teeth where not at all crooked they all came in perfectly straight but i had an overbite that was causing damage to my upper teeth and gums when i go to dentists now they ask if he was my orthodontist apparently his work is pretty well known around here. i never had a cavity with braces or any of the common problems kids have and it was not cuz i was taking great care of my teeth it is because he was cleaning them at every visit. and ia m rambling, yeah i had wisdom teeth they caused problems i got them out and the oral surgeon who removed them was also really nice to me and he drilled holes int hem for me so i could make them into jewelry! i have yet to do anything with them though.

[sebarnes]

I had mine taken out when I was around 23 or 24, along with two others. They were impacted and absessing. I didn't get GA, I just had a local, and really, I didn't feel like I had a lot of pain afterwards. But, then again, I have never had to take pain meds after dental work - I usually swab clove oil a couple of times and then I'm fine. It is a little weird seeing them crack out your teeth though !

[wasswifey]

Mine were growing completely sideways and they were removed. The week after that was the most painful week of my life!!!!

[momto l&a]

Never got any.

I was x-rayed years ago and told I didnt I have any.

[kibba]

Just wanted to update. three were impacted, all of mine came out(4 total) this past Friday Am...its now saturday. I'm really doing good. I was able to save up enough breastmlk in the freezer to so Im pumping and dumping just because I feel so doopey and dont want to feed her this milk with the mds in me . Realy went well, not near as bad as I thought it would be.