Off Topic: Wisdom Teeth Poll

Updated on July 26, 2012
A.S. asks from Lone Tree, IA
36 answers

I read an article about wisdom teeth. It indicated that 80-95% of the population have wisdom teeth (apparently there isn't a lot of wisdom tooth research/statistics) and most of those people, 70%, have them removed. So do you have your third molars? Did you have them removed? Never had them?

I don't have any wisdom teeth. They never developed. Lucky me! Or maybe that means I'm a fool. My mom has all four of her wisdom teeth. No problems. My sister had three and had them removed. My dad had his removed. My husband has his and they don't cause any problems.

What can I do next?

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K.H.

answers from Reno on

My husband has all4 and never had issues. I only had 3 develop and had to have them pulled because I had no room in my mouth.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.L.

answers from Des Moines on

I didn't have any wisdom teeth until I started at a new dentist about 2 years ago and they 'found' one wisdom tooth. Not that my first dentist never did x-rays, it just wasn't there! So I have one that they say probably won't have to be removed.

Almost everyone I know has had their wisdom teeth pulled. My sister got hers done a few years ago and my mom wishes she had a video camera on her...she spilled the beans on everything...including me! It was too funny!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.F.

answers from Utica on

Both my husband and I had all 4 removed and it was freakin brutal. We were both out for at least a week! Brutal pain =(

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

I had all four of mine removed when I was about 17.
My husband has his still.

2 moms found this helpful

⊱.H.

answers from Spokane on

I had all four of mine (they were impacted) removed my freshman year of college.

2 moms found this helpful

B.K.

answers from Chicago on

I had three and had them removed when I was 22. They were impacted so it required dental surgery.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.W.

answers from Bismarck on

I had all four of mine removed when I was 15. They were growing forward instead of up through the gum. All four had to be shattered and picked out in pieces...
My dentist wore glasses and I watched the whole procedure in the reflection of his glasses.
I do remember that I had them out on a Thursday and played in a softball tournament on Friday and Saturday.
I also went in to get my Learner's Permit on Friday morning and they took my driver's license picture that day...UGH! I looked awful, bruised and EXTREMELY swollen. I had to drag that license around with M. until I turned 18...needless to say, I followed the rules and never got pulled over J. so I wouldn't have to show my license. :)

2 moms found this helpful
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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Everyone so far in my household has had them come in. DH, SD and I had them removed. SD and I had impactions and I am not sure about DH. My SS has his and has enough room for them to stay. SD had hers out at 15 or 16 and I had mine out after college.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.B.

answers from Cincinnati on

I had mine removed at 15 before they came in. I had braces, so it was done preventatively to make sure that my expensive orthodontia was not compromised. I never had any issues.

2 moms found this helpful

T.C.

answers from Austin on

I had all four of mine removed in high school. I always thought it wasn't fair because my mom had only 2 (removed as an adult) and my dad had none.

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

I had to have mine removed 2 were impacted and the other 2 were coming in through the outside of my gums! I was in such pain I thought it was a major ear infection.

I have always had straight teeth and and a small mouth (not quiet voice though, hee, hee)

My husband had to have his removed also.. He waited sooo long.. He is such a baby about his teeth..

Now our daughter needs hers out and is being the big baby about it.

2 moms found this helpful

J.B.

answers from Houston on

I had 3 of mine removed last year at 41 yrs of age. Only had 3 to pull and no issues.

1 mom found this helpful

T.M.

answers from Redding on

I had to have mine removed, no room for them. The bottoms started bothering me at 18 and had to go, the tops had to go when I was 21.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.H.

answers from Omaha on

I had my top two pulled when I was about 20 years old. I think they were growing in wrong or there wasn't enough room. Apparently, I was pretty funny coming off the sodium pentathol though! lol
A.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.K.

answers from Bloomington on

I still have all 4 of my molars.

1 mom found this helpful

M.L.

answers from Chicago on

I had my wisdom teeth removed my sophomore year in college (for my spring break). They were growing in sideways and would have pushed all of my teeth (I had braces on for 3 years) and would have been painful.
It was not a fun experience and I looked like a chipmunk for a few weeks.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Seattle on

Yes, I had all 4 of mine out when I was in my early 20's.

And then I ended up working for the same oral surgeon who took my wisdom teeth out.

And people came in at every age to have theirs removed. The normal age starting in their late teens, usually early 20's. But we had lots and lots of patients in their 30's, 40's, & 50's. They had just never taken the time, or had the coverage, or whatever.

In the two years I worked there, we only had 1 patient return with problems, and that's when I learned that the 'whole' was packed with a clove mixture.

Our entire family develops wisdom teeth, and we don't have the space for them to come in without over crowding the mouth. So we have all had them removed. My husband has not has his removed, but he has a wide, manly jaw.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.R.

answers from El Paso on

I had all four, but ALL of them were full-bony impacted and had to be removed.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.W.

answers from Washington DC on

I had all 4 of mine removed after graduating from college.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.C.

answers from Washington DC on

Teeth should be removed as a last resort. Your teeth actually "feed" your jawbones and help keep them strong. If they aren't causing you pain then leave them.

I never had wisdom teeth (in fact I still have a baby tooth) ... like 9 of my adult teeth just never developed.

My husband and oldest son both have their wisdom teeth with no problems, My daughter is starting to get hers and so far no problems with them either.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.R.

answers from Washington DC on

This is a decision based on each person's mouth -- some of us have mouths to small to accommodate those wisdom teeth! If mine (3) had come in, they would have wrecked years of orthodonture, so they came out when I was 17. My daughter has a tiny mouth like mine and we were just told that her four wisdom teeth will need to come out early-- around age 14, because her mouth is developing so quickly. But my husband never had his out and is fine (then again, he is English, and over there when he was growing up, orthodontia wasn't really done at all so no one would have thought much about extracting wisdom teeth anyway unless they were causing someone pain!).

I suspect some folks ask to have them removed because they've heard it's the "done thing," not because their dentist or an orthodontist said it was necessary. And I'm sure some oral surgeons out there are happy to remove the teeth and pocket the bucks even if the removal isn't really needed. But overall I think most people I know who had them out did so on their dentist's advice and needed it done.

1 mom found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

All of mine were pulled b/c they were growing in wrong.

1 mom found this helpful

K.L.

answers from Cleveland on

All four of mine have been slowly coming in for over ten years. It's kind of ridiculous. I will feel one come in for a few days and then it stops for months or even longer. They never bother me. I can just feel them.

1 mom found this helpful

C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

Hi yar-

I had all four of mine removed when I was 15. Three were impacted, and the one that was coming through threatened to shift ALL my newly 'un braced' teeth.

I saved the teeth...and display them in my shadow box!

Best luck!
michele/cat

1 mom found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Hartford on

I had my wisdom teeth and had to have them removed because they caused crowding in my mouth and were making my headaches worse while they were moving around causing damage. I had all four of them removed. I had a horrible recovery, but it was worth it.

1 mom found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from Missoula on

I don't have them, they never developed. My two sisters have each had three removed. I definitely got lucky there.

1 mom found this helpful
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H.P.

answers from Houston on

Mine were impacted for years and then spent a few years working their way out. I went through periods of pain, but it wasn't enough to send me to the doctor. They're all in, now, and they seem to get along well with the others. None of my teeth seem to have shifted to accommodate their presence, but my whole jaw will probably fall off later.

1 mom found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

Had mine removed when I was 20, because they were coming in at an angle and would have shifted all my other teeth.

1 mom found this helpful

G.M.

answers from Phoenix on

My Wisdom teeth started coming in at age 24. Since I had to have braces in high school, they started moving my teeth crooked, so I had to have all four of them removed.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Huntsville on

I had all of mine removed when I was 15 or so. They weren't coming through yet, but they knew my mouth wasn't big enough to handle them. I also got dry sockets with it. No fun :(

1 mom found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from Seattle on

Mine were removed. Horribly. Painfully. Unfortunately, being put under is very expensive, and the shot they gave me didn't work 100% so, I felt most of it. Terrible. They weren't easy to remove either. Figures right? Had to be smashed, and scooped out with a dental "spoon", took hours to do andddd i'll leave it at that.

My husband had his taken out while in the Army. His were done in less than 7 minutes!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

As of recent decades, I think scientists are of the opinion that human beings don't really 'need' the wisdom teeth. They are called so, just because they erupt late in life (when one starts acquiring wisdom otherwise too...hopefully.. :P ), but they aren't really necessary for everyday oral activities, apparently. I think more and more people suffer from impaction (case of the wisdom teeth growing all wrong, or partially, or slanted, etc..), as their jaws are small and cannot accommodate those teeth. One needs surgical interruptions to have them removed, I guess.
My two top ones are out fully and cause no issues. My right bottom one was impacted, and worse, got infected and I had a surgery last yr to get it out. My cheek and jaw were swollen to double their sizes for 2 days.. :))) My other bottom one never appeared, and I discovered it was fully grown, but totally inside the gum. (I saw it in the x-rays..).

I also read somewhere recently scientists in Japan successfully extracted stem cells from extracted wisdom tooth. Maybe its of some significance...

1 mom found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

I had mine out when I was in high school and it wasn't fun.

My husband had his out maybe 18 months ago...he seemed to do okay with it, but I think it still hurt.

1 mom found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I had mine removed before I had braces. My other teeth needed the room.

Just think how wise I would have been if I still had them. :p

1 mom found this helpful
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❤.I.

answers from Albuquerque on

I had three of them taken out. My mouth was too small for them and I ended up getting an abscess a week before they were scheduled to be pulled.

1 mom found this helpful

B.M.

answers from Pocatello on

Most people have wisdom teeth, some just take forever for them to come through the gums. The reason dentist advise people to get them out is because most people don't have enough room in their mouth for the extra 4 teeth. So when the do come in they start pushing the rest of your teeth forward in order to make room. Cause your teeth to crowed and become crooked. I had mine out when i was 19. It's better to get them all out at once instead of waiting for each to come in on their own and then getting them pulled 1 at a time. So if you have them they will come in. My husband's Grandfather had to get he last one pulled at the age of 80! because it finally popped through his gums and was causing lots of pain. So yeah get them out if you have them!!

1 mom found this helpful
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