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Madison, WI 53705
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Wisdom Teeth: When should they come out?
Wisdom teeth, they don't give you any added wisdom, in fact, they may just cause you problems.
Even if you're not in pain, you may want to consider getting them taken out.
By about age 6 or 7 the baby teeth are slowly replaced by the permanent teeth.
The wisdom teeth are usually the last to emerge.
They're way in the back of the mouth where it's harder to keep clean, and that makes them the perfect breeding ground for all kinds of problems.
17-year old Katherine Alligood recently had her wisdom teeth removed.
She says, "I didn't have any problems, but they were coming in at an odd angle so they had to be taken out."
Oral surgeons say the teen years are the prime time to have your third molars, or wisdom teeth, extracted.
Dr. Steven Roser says, "The vast majority of third molars are not useful and if they're not useful with the potential pathology that they can produce and symptoms, they're best out or best removed."
Left in, he says there's a much higher possibility of problems.
"The wisdom tooth isn't in the best position and allows for the accumulation of debris and bacteria underneath the gum overlying it."
Not sure yours should go?
Ongoing studies indicate a significant group of patients develop periodontal disease.
"Chronic infections that can affect other parts of the body, they can produce symptoms that can include pain that can come at just an inopportune time."
And that pain isn't the only concern.
"The sac around the teeth that helps the teeth form will sit there and sometimes can start to expand and cause cysts or even tumors."
Katherine never had problems, and is happy to have the wisdom to know she won't.
Doctor Roser says that once the area around wisdom teeth get infected, treatments become more complicated and expensive.
Again it's best to get them out by young adulthood to reduce the risk of infection or periodontal disease.
Your dentist can obviously tell you when it's best to have it done.