Does everyone need to have their wisdom teeth removed?
Wisdom teeth, also known as ‘third molars’ are the very last teeth in your mouth. Most people eventually develop four wisdom teeth, while some have none, one, two, three or more than four! Wisdom teeth become evident on a dental x-ray called a panoramic x-ray between the ages of 9-15. When wisdom teeth do not have enough room to come in, they become impacted, or trapped in the jawbone. There are several types of impactions, some of which are full bony and partial bony impactions. Partial bony impactions are when a wisdom tooth is partially in the mouth and partially in the bone and those are the most difficult to keep clean and decay is a big concern. Most partial bony impacted wisdom teeth need to be taken out.
Full bony impactions can cause issues to develop in the mouth, especially cyst formation. Typically, wisdom teeth do not cause teeth to crowd up. If a patient has enough room in their mouth for the wisdom teeth to come in completely and they can keep them clean, extraction of those wisdom teeth is not necessary. If your wisdom teeth are in completely, or partially or fully impacted, the best way to ensure that your other teeth do not move after you are done with orthodontic treatment is to wear your retainers that Dr. Gorlovsky made for you.