It was the start of my summer vacation. School had only been out for a few weeks,
and I was already about to lose a chunk of wisdom.
My dentist glanced at my X-ray and frowned: All four of my wisdom teeth needed to
be pulled. It’s a rite of passage that magically turns normal people into
the closest thing Hawai‘i has to a chipmunk. And while it can cause some pain
or discomfort, pulling your wisdom teeth can be beneficial in the long run.
“Wisdom teeth are the third molars in the upper and lower jaw,” says
Todd Haruki, D.D.S. “They’re called wisdom teeth because they usually
appear around age 18, which was traditionally seen as the age you attained wisdom.”
Wisdom teeth aren’t inherently bad. They don’t need to be removed if
they “erupt” normally (dental jargon for when a tooth grows out from
under the gum tissue) without complications. Wisdom teeth become a problem if they
don’t erupt properly – mine failed to erupt and decided to grow sideways.
“A common concern is that wisdom teeth will create pressure on the other molars
because they don’t have enough space,” says Haruki. “This pushes
the adjacent teeth, making them crooked.” But it’s about more than just
vanity and crooked teeth. “The crowded wisdom teeth can also create a trap
behind the second molars, catching food and bacteria,” he says. This can lead
to a host of other problems, such as gum infections, decay of teeth surrounding
the wisdom teeth, and cystic tumors.
While I didn’t have any of those problems, my dentist suggested removing my
wisdom teeth as a preventive measure. The longer you wait, the harder it can be
to remove wisdom teeth. “We recommend that all four wisdom teeth be pulled
because of potential problems as you get older,” Haruki says. If you postpone
pulling your wisdom teeth, they could become more entrenched into your jaw.
Although wisdom teeth can be extracted at any age, dentists begin monitoring patients
in their early teens. “Because everyone’s teeth grow at different speeds,
we evaluate patients starting at age 15,” says Haruki. “You could have
a 15-year-old with almost completely formed wisdom teeth, and a 19-year-old with
small tooth buds.”
While not the most enjoyable experience, the removal of wisdom teeth has gotten
a little more comfortable over the years. “We recommend being put asleep when
getting your wisdom teeth pulled,” says Haruki. “Local anesthesia was
the old-fashioned way. Being put asleep is less traumatic.”
Once you’re asleep, the dentist will break the wisdom teeth into pieces and
pull them out. The length of the procedure varies by patient; I was finished in
an hour.
I healed within a week, which is the norm. In general, recovery times are shorter
for younger patients. This is partly because the wisdom teeth are not fully formed,
so their removal is easier. Regardless of your age, you’ll “heal quickly
as long as you follow the post-operating instructions that your dentist gives you,”
says Haruki.
While the procedure was uncomfortable, the pain didn’t linger and my cheeks
didn’t swell too badly. I was more upset by my inability to eat solid food
for a few days. Oh well, as they say: Always look for the silver lining. For me,
it was a good excuse to eat a lot of ice cream.
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