Should wisdom teeth that are so painful be removed?

Wisdom teeth are a part that causes both headaches and fear. It will hurt if they are not removed, and it will hurt even more when they are removed.

Should wisdom teeth be removed or not? I believe that after reading the article below, you will have an answer in your mind.

What are wisdom teeth?

Wisdom teeth refer to the four third molars on the innermost part of the alveolar bone in the human mouth, one on the upper, lower, left and right sides.

Because these four third molars begin to erupt at around the age of 20, when a person's physical and psychological development is close to maturity, they are regarded as a symbol of the "arrival of wisdom", so they are called "wisdom teeth", which are the teeth closest to the throat in the oral cavity.

Why do people grow wisdom teeth?

Modern medicine generally believes that wisdom teeth are remnants of human evolution.

As human eating becomes more and more refined, the length, width and strength of the human alveolar bone have degenerated to varying degrees, making it impossible to provide sufficient eruption space for the wisdom teeth growing at the end of the alveolar bone. As a result, the wisdom teeth will erupt ectopically and be impacted due to lack of space.

In addition, the degeneration of wisdom teeth themselves can also lead to insufficient number of erupted teeth, asymmetric eruption, etc.

Misconceptions about extracting wisdom teeth

Misconception 1: Can wisdom tooth extraction help slim your face?

**Wisdom tooth extraction cannot change the shape of the face, which is mainly supported by the jawbone, especially the mandible. **The size of the mandibular angle of the mandible affects our face shape.

Wisdom teeth only erupt after the mandible is fully formed. Whether they are removed or not has no effect on the angle of the mandibular angle, so it is completely unnecessary to remove wisdom teeth for face slimming.

Misconception 2: Do wisdom teeth need to be removed?

Not all wisdom teeth need to be extracted. If the wisdom teeth can erupt normally and establish an occlusal relationship, or at least do not bring the risk of pain and infection and affect other teeth, they do not need to be extracted. However, wisdom teeth must be extracted in the following 6 situations.

1. Infested by insects

Wisdom teeth that have been decayed by cavities are difficult to fill. If they are not removed in time, the cavities may become deeper and deeper, damaging oral health.

2. Squeeze adjacent teeth

Wisdom teeth that grow together with adjacent permanent teeth may make the permanent teeth difficult to clean or cause partial absorption of the teeth, resulting in toothache or other discomfort in patients.

In this case, the wisdom teeth are not easy for the patient to feel, but can be seen clearly through X-rays.

3. Swelling and pain

If you feel swelling and pain when your wisdom tooth erupts, extraction is the best option.

4. Impacted wisdom teeth

Impacted wisdom teeth are usually buried in the alveolar bone, and patients may not feel them. Therefore, they are easily overlooked, but they can be diagnosed through X-rays.

5. Difficult to clean

Wisdom teeth are crooked in shape and grow very deep inside, so when you brush your teeth, food debris left on them is not easy to clean away.

6. No opposing teeth occlusion

Not all wisdom teeth grow in pairs. If there is no opposing tooth opposite the wisdom teeth, it is easy for the wisdom teeth to over-erupt, thus affecting the bite and causing discomfort.

Myth 3: Extracting wisdom teeth will loosen adjacent teeth

The stability of teeth depends on the retention of the tooth roots in the alveolar bone, not on the "crowding" between each tooth. After the wisdom teeth are removed, the retention of the adjacent teeth will not change.

There is a special situation here. When the wisdom tooth is horizontally impacted, its crown is located at the root of the front teeth, causing compressive absorption of the alveolar bone of the front teeth. In this case, after the wisdom tooth is removed, the front teeth may become temporarily loose due to the loss of "support" from the back teeth. However, since the wisdom tooth has been removed, the absorbed alveolar bone will grow again, so the teeth can gradually regain stability.

Myth 4: Teeth should be preserved as much as possible and should not be extracted if possible

The indications for whether wisdom teeth need to be removed have been described above. It is possible to damage the nerve during tooth extraction, and nerve damage is a common complication of removing impacted wisdom teeth.

Wisdom teeth are more common in the mandibular area, but they only occur when the wisdom teeth are very close to or just touch the mandibular nerve. In this case, it is very difficult to remove the wisdom teeth, and the doctor will be very careful.

Usually, after the impacted wisdom tooth is removed, the symptoms caused by the mechanical damage to the nerve will recover in a short time.