Even though I am well into my forties, up until last week I still had all my wisdom teeth. A broken filling in one of the wisdom teeth prompted my dentist to advise me to have both the upper ones out, which I did. She said that replacing a filling in a wisdom tooth would be extremely challenging to do properly, and that a poorly placed filling could lead to an infection, which would likely end with the tooth coming out anyway, so we just cut to the chase.

She is more ambiguous about whether or not I should have the lower wisdom teeth removed. I’ve never had any problems with them, but would it be better to just get it over with if they will cause problems like these down the road. I have good dental coverage right now, and would almost have it all over and done with rather than waiting for a problem to develop.

Thanks,

Paul in Las Vegas

Dear Paul,

There should always be some reason for removing wisdom teeth, beyond them just being wisdom teeth. It sounds as if yours erupted normally, or they would have been causing you problems long before now. I am sure you have heard of wisdom teeth that are impacted. Impacted wisdom teeth can cause a lot of problems with the alignment of your other teeth, and they are best removed as soon as possible, preferably before the age of 25.

However, as you have experienced, even wisdom teeth that have erupted normally can cause problems. Your dentist was wise to recognize the challenge in placing white fillings in wisdom teeth.

In your case, it could happen that the wisdom teeth will super-erupt, which is when missing teeth cause the corresponding teeth in the opposite jaw to grow to try and reach the now absent teeth. This could create alignment problems that could ultimately lead to TMJ issues.

Ultimately, you and your dentist must decide together. In time, it may become obvious that the best course of action is to have them out.

 

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