If you've had issues with wisdom teeth...

[jenhoney2]

What were they? And what did it feel like?

I had wisdom teeth on both sides at the bottom of my mouth. About a year ago I started getting niggling pain in the left one. An x ray showed that the wisdom tooth was sideways and pressing against the molar next to it. It had become decayed and was decaying the molar too. The x ray showed all of this and I was put on a waiting list for NHS extraction. Unfortunately the pain ramped up massively in the coming weeks and I ended up paying privately to have them both removed. The pain was inside the tooth and gum, from the outside it looked normal and there was no sign of an abscess. But even so it was excruciating.

Now I'm starting to think I feel niggles on the other side where the other wisdom tooth is. As far as I can remember that one wasn't sideways and there was no decay shown on the x ray I had a year ago. However I'm still on high alert as I don't want a repeat performance and I will get in touch with my dentist as soon as they open tomorrow. I'm scared I'll have to have that one out too as it wasn't a pleasant experience and recovery took a few weeks.

I just wondered about other peoples experience with wisdom teeth were. If yours caused you issues what did it initially feel like? How long did it take to have treatment? Or have you lived problem free with yours?

My best friend had all her wisdom teeth extracted. My sister had to have the same.
I have never had problems with my wisdom teeth, BUT the bottom right one started to loosen and was extracted in 2023. The bottom left one is as loose as anything. It has been for a while and I would like it to release on its own, but I am coming up to a trip abroad (10 day to go), so if it not out by Wednesday or Thursday I will go to the dentist.
Problems caused by deteriorating jaw bone, not decay.

Did they have theirs removed due to issues? Or was it just a precaution? My dentist told me in other countries wisdom teeth are routinely removed but apparently in the UK we just wait until they start causing problems before we remove them...which sounds about right.

Both of my bottom ones were removed separately and under GA - they were growing in a weird direction and I got multiple inflections in my gums.

Took quite a few instances of infection before they'd remove them though.

I'm mid 40s and just had a second upper one out as it had a big hole in it near the nerve and was extremely painful. The other top one came out in a similar situation years ago.

Bottom two still in place but one of them is very deep in my gum & bleeds & food always gets stuck on it. Thinking of asking for it to be extracted.

I had all of mine taken out and it was such a relief. I was forever on antibiotics and they had become impacted.

All 4 of mine were wonky and pushing into the next teeth. Wasn't causing me any trouble but dentist said get them taken out or they'll impact the teeth next to them too. So had the left side done first, then right side 2 weeks later. My god I've never felt pain like it. They were so wedged in there the poor dentist had such trouble getting them out. She split my lip as my mouth was open so wide. I got in the car afterwards and burst into tears. Then got dry socket on both sides!!!!
The positive is that now, I know nothing can be worse than that, so I'm not afraid to have anything done now 😂

I think because of the pain I had before (before exaction) I'm so scared of going through that again. Antibiotics didn't touch it until about 5 days in and by then I was getting them removed the following day!

It's still at the niggle stage at the moment but if it is similar to what happened before I need it sorting asap.

I had problems with my wisdom teeth for years. The bottom ones were impacted and I would get infections in the gum 2/3 times a year. I finally got the top ones removed aged 28 - awake as they were straightforward. No pain or issues. The impacted ones I got referred to the hospital to have removed under GA and that happened a year later. Again no issues with recovery etc. I'm so glad they're all gone. No more pain!

Years I had two bottom WTs taken out because they were impacted. I was mid 20s - IIRC they were trying to erupt but there wasn’t enough room.

They were done maybe a month apart. Dentist had a real tug of war both times to get them out - the side of my face was purple, black and blue afterwards - so since I was cabin crew and was supposed to look ‘nice, I had a week off each time! But with painkillers and ABs, so not 100% a picnic.

As a child I’d had two top teeth taken out for overcrowding - - goodness only knows why they didn’t whip out a couple of bottom ones, too.

I had all 4 wisdom teeth taken out a few years ago under sedation, Midazolam IV. Bottom were impacted, and was told the top may as well come out at the same time so I didn't get bite issues.

It was the best thing I ever did! I was in constant pain, niggling or excruciating when an infection flared up. I could never escape it. I was self conscious of having bad breath from the trapped food and infections and chewed chewing gum constantly.

Recovery was rough for 48-72 hours. Not sure if it was due to the pain (although managed to keep that relatively well controlled with paracetamol & ibuprofen), swelling, or feeling grotty from the sedation.
I didn't get any visible bruising and facial swelling was minimal. The hardest part was I was starving hungry and after a couple of days on a liquid diet - I really wanted a proper meal!!

Honestly - one of the best things I've ever done.

I have a wisdom tooth that came in horizontally, and it's given me grief for years. It created a 'shelf' where food would get stuck behind it. Every time I've been to the dentist in the last few years I've been told off for not cleaning it properly, I have three different types of toothbrush for it, but I also have a small jaw and can't reach it properly. The NHS have always refused to remove it, they're waiting for it to degrade enough where it'll be an emergency and I'll probably lose the tooth next to it too, but even then the waiting list is 2 years and the NHS may still refuse to remove it (my dentist told me).

I've been lucky enough to get a bit of money recently so went to a private dentist. Its coming out next month and costing me 1k. That's a lot of money for me but worth it. Dentistry in this country is a joke.

I had all 4 removed iny early 20s due to overcrowding and decay at the back (hard to clean). The dentist was able to get it covered by the NHS.

I don't understand how people are expected to put up with recurrent infections. Honestly when mine got bad I could barely function. I didnt eat, sleep or go to work. I just laid in bed with a bag of frozen peas on my face. There was no way I could have lasted the months it would've taken to get it done on the NHS.

Do antibiotics clear it for those who get recurrent infections? I had to get a second prescription as the initial 5 day course didn't touch it. I think the infection and decay was deep inside the pulp and not sure if that makes it harder to treat?

Wisdom teeth served a function in evolutionary terms. In the past, othe teth would have decayed and fallen out and wisdom teeth would have filled the gap.

Why would you remove healthy body parts that aren't causing any grief? Some people's jaws have space for them.

Mine were impacted - they kept erupting through the gums at a strange angle and then the gum would grow back over them. Six months later it would happen again. I had them removed in my early 20s.
My husband's emerged with no issues and, thus far, my adult sons have had no problems.

I had both of my lowers removed. They were both impacted and would get infected (the gums, not the teeth - if the teeth are infected then they need to be removed). I would get recurrent gingivitis and it completely stopped when the teeth were removed.