Wisdom tooth extraction - yay or nay?

[MackerelOfFact]

I have been to the dentists today and the subject of wisdom tooth extraction was raised. I have one partially erupted lower tooth which is coming in at an angle (pointing towards neighbouring tooth) and another which hasn't come through yet but is coming in at the same angle, according to the x-ray.

I have been told it's up to me whether I have them extracted or not. They don't cause significant pain in themselves, but I am getting lots of head and neck aches which may or may not be connected. The procedure sounds horrible (she mentioned having to cut a 'big flap of gum' due to their angle and ) and the thought of it makes me clench my teeth, but I'm not general needle or dentistry-phobic.

Any anecdotal tales either way?

You still get an honourable mention!

Wonder how the OP feels about it now?

When my wisdom teeth started coming through, the top ones were fine, the bottom ones could have been an issue. The R one was coming through at an angle, and the dentist told me I should have it removed because it was angled, and also the R top one to keep it even. I said no. The bottom one straightened up as it came through fully and was fine.

The L bottom one remained partially occluded for ages (it didn't break completely through the gum) and I had a few problems with gingivitis in the area and it was suggested I had it removed (and also the associated top one) - I said no. Brushing it helped it recede - tooth was fine.

So - I had 4 fully functional wisdom teeth - had them fissure filled (all my molars have very deep fissures and are prone to caries) after one needed filling (that was fun!) and all was good. No problems with them at all until after DS was born and I was bf'ing - obviously didn't keep my calcium intake up properly and weakened my teeth (fool that I am) - one night, wisdom tooth (top R) just broke. Crumbled. I may have been grinding my teeth (although I'm not prone to it) because I kind of woke up with bits of tooth in my mouth and only about 1/3 of the tooth left above the gum. No pain, amazingly! Went to the dentist, unfixable, had to be extracted. Straightforward pull, only has a single root (unlike molars), no problem, no infection, no suggestion of pulling any others out. Still no problem now.

I say unless they are fully through and still wonky and honestly causing you a lot of pain, give them a chance to come through fully and settle down - then decide if you want to take the risk of having them removed - because everyone I know who has had it done has had terrible infections as a result.

Had my wisdom teeth taken out over here in the US. Paid the extra and went with an oral surgeon who was really good and took wisdom teeth out on a daily basis. It did eliminate the migrane headaches that I suffered from.

If you go ahead I suggest you ice for the first 24hrs nonstop. I looked like a moron with a bandage holding icepacks around my head (nurse did it in a big bow at the top) but it stopped the swelling. I took nurofen for a week too to help with the swelling.

I had my teeth extracted at 3pm on the Friday and I took my mother for brunch on the Sunday morning (had oatmeal with stewed apple). On Monday I was back in work and meeting with clients.

It is unlikely that 2 wisdom teeth would cause your neck pain, unless they are interfering with your bite.

Head & neck pain can be caused by clenching/grinding at night, or clenching during the day.

Did your dentist investigate the other possible causes for your neck pain? If so, how?

Calcium intake has absolutely no relation to the health of your teeth once you are over the age of about 10.

I had all 4 out with conscious sedation and have never regretted it. It took two weeks and lots of smoothies and soup to get better

not exactly true. If your calcium intake is insufficient, calcium will be removed from teeth and bones of the mother to make sure the foetus/breastmilk is sufficient in it. You cannot improve the health of your teeth after whatever age by taking extra calcium, but you can certainly prevent extra damage by ensuring adequate calcium supply when pg/breastfeeding.

It is true. Calcium you cannot alter your teeth "systemically" after they have formed. That's like saying you can repair your split ends by eating more avocado. You can help them by applying fluoride to them but calcium is not lost from them during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
I will try to post some peer reviewed papers at some point to help dispel this myth, teeth are totally different to bones.

*calcium cannot

this explains an inadequate intake of vit D and Calcium may contribute to tooth loss in pg - but admittedly not due to loss of calcium from teeth, more from periodontal effects. However - even though my original point was incorrect in scientific terms, it's STILL true that you need to maintain adequate calcium intake when pg/bf'ing because the foetus/baby will still get priority AND it can affect tooth integrity.

Yes, the bone holding the teeth in can be affected but that would not cause your teeth to crumble, that would cause periodontal (gum) disease.

I had one of my top wisdom teeth out under LA a few weeks ago. I was absolutely petrified, but can honestly say it didn't hurt one bit. Felt lots of pressure, but no pain and it was done in seconds. Felt ever so slightly tender afterwards when I felt around with my tongue, but no pain at all.

any ideas what did cause it to crumble then, Grumpy? cos I sure as hell don't know.

I had four out under gen anaesthetic at 41. I was told my recovery time might be a bit longer as I was older. It took a full four weeks to recover and the pain in the first week was worse than childbirth.
Ask many questions before going for an extraction.

Snapewitch, generally the only things that cause teeth to break are decay or trauma.

It wasn't decayed and no trauma. Just suddenly broke. I had my teeth checked regularly because of general shiteness, and more so when pg. Surely they would have spotted decay?

I had all four out under general anaesthetic just before I was 40. They had been giving me regular problems.

I woke up from the GA choking on a mouth full of blood. Within 24 hrs I had an infection. It was the worst pain I have ever had. If someone had handed me a gun, I would have shot myself, seriously.

My dh went back to the hospital and they issued some antibiotics for me. Once the antibiotics had kicked in my recovery started, but it was slow.

A few months ago I had a large molar extracted under local anaesthetic. No infection that time as the dentist put me straight onto antibiotics. Again it was a slow, but less painful recovery.

From now on I shall only have a tooth extracted as an absolute last resort.

Had all 4 out plus 1 neighbouring molar under GA about 8 years ago.
It went fine, just swollen around the lower jaw for a few days and I lived on a diet of soup, spaghetti hoops and scrambled egg that I didn't have to chew.
The right hand side of my tongue was numb for about a month after, which gave me a bit of a lisp for a few days (much to the amusement of my work colleagues!)
But it was no where near as bad as I had imagined it would be.

Thanks everyone for your stories, very illuminating! I have had an adult tooth extraction before as my mouth was crowded, and it was fine... another reason I am worried about the wisdom teeth coming in and making this worse.

I am speaking to the surgeon this evening for a second opinion. I wasn't offered any other explanation for the head and neck pain, but I will ask about this.

Thumps, it is possible that you had hairline cracks in the teeth & that they were a little weaker alone those cracks.

If that is the case, it would have taken very little force to finally break the tooth, along one of those cracks.

thumbs even...

Mackerel Ask them to investigate TMJ problems.

i wouldn't tbh.
i had one top one out years ago after it was playing up and i was due to go on hols.
this was over 20 yrs ago when they were routinely removed if there were any problems.
i was advised to have them all out top and bottom.i decided to wait it out for a bit - i did have painful flare ups from time to time but took a painkiller when needed.
i never did have any more out and mentioned this recently to my dentist to ask his opinion. he basically said that dentists do not advocate removing wisdom teeth now as a matter of course and if mine were not giving me any more problems to leave them be.

Well the surgeon didn't think it was worth removing any of them, apparently extraction is only indicated where there is decay or recurrent infection, and he said mine is very clean and healthy, despite being impacted at 90 degrees. He felt my neck and surmised that the pain could be due to tooth grinding or any number of non-dental reasons.

So that's that then. Thanks everyone for your input! Next stop doctors...

That's helpful...di he suggest any way to eliminate any factors?

You could try a specialist in TMJ, but you would be looking at private costs for that.