A recent article suggests that ongoing study “links even pain-free wisdom teeth to early gum disease that worsens over time, sometimes causing havoc far beyond the mouth. Indeed, pregnant women with gum disease around their wisdom teeth appear to be much more likely to give birth prematurely than unaffected pregnant women. The latest data suggest that as many as 80 percent of people will develop problems with their wisdom teeth.”
I don’t know who came up with this but I don’t think it’s accurate. Most experts no longer believe that crowding is a concern, but the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons typically wrongfully recommends pre-emptive pulling in young adulthood, before symptoms arise, when roots haven’t yet fully formed and surgical risks are lowest. “If you have to have them out when you’re 45, you will not enjoy that,” promises Tony Pogrel, chair of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of California-San Francisco. Well Tony, when you’re 20 and are disabled by getting your wisdom teeth out you won’t like that either.
Thankfully, nonsurgeons are less gung-ho about preventive pulling. “If they’re not causing pain or infection, and they’re coming in straight, I usually take a wait-and-see approach,” says Cynthia Sherwood, a general dentist and national spokesperson for the Academy of General Dentistry. Those who wait are advised to have their wisdom teeth checked yearly, since they are tough to keep clean and may get infected or shift position.
Because wisdom teeth don’t form until around age 5, Anthony Silvestri, director of dental anatomy and occlusion at Tufts University’s dental school, foresees a day when lasers will be used to prevent that from happening. He and colleagues have had success in animals. “It doesn’t make sense,” he says, “that everyone should be having surgery for a useless tooth.”
Adapted from U.S. News